Acceptance
by Jefardi
Summary: Sometimes you just need a hug, a Milk & Cereal story. 7,000th story for the RWBY category. [Cover image provided by the wonderful Jo3mm who has given me permission to use.]
1. Chapter 1: Sadness

**Chapter One: Sadness**

* * *

Pyrrha Nikos was not normally an angry person.

Yet as she cut another practice dummy in half with Milo, she could only describe what she was feeling as anger. A deep boiling pit in her stomach, it felt like a red veil was over her eyes, as she disemboweled another target.

_Wrath is a better word_; she thought to herself, _anger is not extreme enough_. Glancing at the clock, showed it was three in the morning. Not that she had any place to be; it was Saturday after all. Normally, she would have been sleeping in her team's dorm, or failing that, getting tangled into one of Nora's crazy plots. Something with her team. Still, she had been in the training room for nearly nine hours, _perhaps it would be best if I were to get some sleep?_

Pyrrha cut into the next row of targets. _Not yet_. She wasn't ready to leave yet. Or rather, she wasn't ready to be in the same room as her team leader, Jaune Arc. That feeling of anger, turned into one of sadness and hurt.

Pyrrha Nikos was honest with herself; at least she thought she was. Admittedly it was a very subjective thing, so she couldn't be sure she was completely objective in her view of internal honesty. Nevertheless she liked to think she was honest with herself. She had realized that she had a crush on team JNPR's goofball of a leader. Pyrrha could admit that she had a crush on him, possibly even since they met. It was a unique scenario, not being recognized. Sure he recognized her as the face of Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow cereal, but only after cajoling by Weiss. It was still a nice feeling to be viewed as just the average person, not as some ideal persona of a champion.

Perhaps that is why she had nailed the yellow haired boy to a tree when it became apparent that he didn't know how to land. She had unlocked his aura for him in the Emerald Forest, excited that she was going to be special to him for that. Even when he flat out told her that he had lied his way in to Beacon, Pyrrha felt that she had done the best thing, by offering to train him.

If Pyrrha was still being honest with herself, she could even admit that she knew Jaune would not have easily of realized that she was… pining over him. Pyrrha thought she had made it abundantly clear; all that extra help, being oh-so-very understanding when Jaune had pushed her away and become seemingly part of Cardin's team.

That's not to say she wouldn't have done all of that to help her partner even if she didn't have a crush on him. She just thought he'd notice, eventually. Some day. Any day. Over the course of four months.

Pyrrha had thought that perhaps a little push may have helped him make an epiphany. It had taken her a week to decide whether or not to ask him out on a date, but she did.

* * *

"Say what?" the yellow headed boy stared at his partner.

Pyrrha took a deep breath; it had taken all of her courage to ask the first time, now to repeat it… "Jaune, would you like to go see a movie with me this weekend?" she asked, trying to keep her voice from cracking.

Jaune sheepishly rubbed the back of his head, "I sort of have a date this weekend… I may have asked Velvet, and she said yes" Pyrrha nodded dumbly, "…maybe next weekend?"

Internally Pyrrha shattered; still, she wouldn't be one to stand in the way of her crus-…friend's happiness.

* * *

Her hope had been in vain. Sure, Jaune asked Weiss Schnee out on a date every other day, but Pyrrha knew that it would never happen; Weiss had made her feelings abundantly clear from the start towards Jaune. Pyrrha had thought, hoped, that he would grow out of it. When he stopped asking Weiss out, Pyrrha even thought that perhaps, he had noticed her.

Yet that was not the case. It seemed he had noticed Velvet instead. In fact Jaune hadn't even noticed that Pyrrha had been trying to ask him out.

_Frustration is another good word_, Pyrrha thought to herself, as she hurled Milo into the face of a target across the room. Four months and he hadn't noticed her. Pyrrha had come to her own epiphany after the first hour in the training room. She wasn't angry with Jaune, or even Velvet. No, she was angry with herself. She had assumed that her oblivious partner would notice her, that he would act outside of his own personality. She felt stupid.

"Pyrrha?"

* * *

For Ruby Rose, Saturday was a day she could spend entirely on customizing and caring for her sweetheart, Crescent Rose. She had woken up early to go check out the new shipment of parts that her favourite weapon shop had received. After spending ten hours in the workshop to take Crescent Rose apart and put it back together to make sure the new bolt-action worked perfectly, it was time to hit the range. Never mind that it was three in the morning, she could sleep after she got some quality time with her sweetheart. _Plus the practice room should be empty!_

That was not quite the case, as she opened the door to it, seeing at least one person was in it. _Long red hair, bronze armour, red sash… _"Pyrrha?" The long haired girl turned to face Ruby, looking like a deer caught in the headlights. It was definitely Pyrrha, but not the Pyrrha that Ruby had ever seen before.

The usual confidence in Pyrrha's eyes was gone; instead her eyes seemed almost…dead. Her mouth, usually the corners of it were in an almost permanent award winning grin, was instead twisted into a wicked looking grimace, anger evident. She looked like she wasn't in control. In short she looked as un-Pyrrha as possible.

Ruby was worried, "Are…are you okay?"

Pyrrha's shoulders slumped, "No" she said in a voice so small sounding Ruby could barely hear it. Pyrrha's mouth morphed into a sad frown, before she turned away, slowly walking over to get retrieve Milo. It hurt Ruby to see her friend like this, she did the only thing she could think to do.

* * *

Pyrrha felt small arms close around her mid-section, as well as something pressed up against her back. "Wha-"

"You-look-sad-so-I'm-giving-you-a-hug!" the warm thing pressed up against Pyrrha's back blurted out. Pyrrha sighed, before she turned to address the younger girl, Ruby maintaining the hug.

"I'm angry, not sad."

Ruby didn't stop hugging the taller redhead.

"I'm not sad, I'm..I'm.." Pyrrha heard the drip of liquid hitting the ground.

_Sadness, that's what I feel. _

Pyrrha wrapped her arms around the younger girl, as her vision glazed over with tears. Her legs felt weak as she slipped to the floor in Ruby's embrace.

"I'm sad."

* * *

AU: Wow, I feel like I need a hug now. Uh. Anywho, this is a story that I think needs to happen due to the lack of Milk &amp; Cereal (Pyrrha/Ruby) out there. More chapters to come at some point! Probably within 18 hours to 2 weeks, or so. Or whenever I feel like it. Honestly, I need to get Chapter Ten of Skyros out, and this story is is on the same priority as Dilation for me, which is slightly below Skyros. These chapters will get more positive I swear, seriously! Have a good one!

* * *

Edited June 7th, 2015 by ASouthernRussian


	2. Chapter 2: Status Quo

Chapter Two: Status Quo

* * *

Ruby was concerned for her friend. Last night, she had found Pyrrha in the Beacon training room. At three in the morning. That might not be necessarily eyebrow-raising, since, it IS Pyrrha Nikos after all, so she has to train at some point during her busy day. However it didn't look like training to Ruby. To Ruby, Pyrrha looked, well, un-Pyrrha like, all the natural confidence she seemed to exude had been gone. Instead, Pyrrha had looked downright sad. A hug later and Pyrrha had been crying. However that wasn't the concerning part to Ruby. Well it was, but the next part was even more concerning.

The next day Pyrrha seemed completely fine, as if nothing had happened. Perhaps a little more withdrawn and sleep-deprived, but it wasn't anything someone would notice by looking at her if they weren't looking hard. That was concerning to Ruby, especially after the previous night. _To act as if nothing had happened…_

"See something you like sis?" the teasing tone of Ruby's older sister pulled her out of her reverie.

"Huh?"

"You've been staring at Pyrrha for like, ten minutes." Yang leaned in conspiratorially, a predatory smile on her lips, "Does someone have a cruusshhhh?"

Pink tinged Ruby's cheeks as she shook her head, embarrassed at what her elder sister was implying, "I don't have a crush!" The embarrassment faded, "I haven't been staring at her, nope!"

Yang cocked an eyebrow at her. "I ate most of your cookies…" Ruby's eyes shot down to her plate. There was half a cookie left on it. Out of two dozen.

Teasing was one thing, but stealing her beloved cookies from right under her nose was another thing entirely. "YOU MONSTER!"

As Ruby launched herself at Yang in righteous cookie vengeance, the blonde was only able to get out "Don't get yangry about it" before impact.

* * *

_I'm fine. _

It was lunch on a Sunday. The status quo was being maintained. Yang was teasing Ruby. Nora was telling wild stories with Ren offering the occasional commentary or more often than not, corrections. Blake was reading a book. Weiss was doing her best to ignore everyone. Jaune was… was…

Jaune wasn't maintaining his role. He should be asking out Weiss or talking to Ruby about some video game.

Instead he wasn't there. He was getting ready for his date, with Velvet.

_I'm fine._

Ignoring the fact that Pyrrha had hoped, HOPED it would be her going out with the Arc teen, she was fine. She hadn't been hoping for an entire semester she'd be in Velvet's place. It wasn't Velvet's fault. Not really. It was Pyrrha's fault for assuming certain things. Like her partner having any form of interest in her outside of friendship. For assuming that maybe the person she thought viewed her as not some ideal of a champion may of thought of her as something more than a friend, for assumin-

Pyrrha cut the line of thought.

_I'm fine._

More important was to figure out what to do with her day. Usually she'd be helping Jaune with homework, or training. Or once in a blue moon going out to Vale in a team outing. With Jaune…preoccupied, it wouldn't be much of a team outing without him. Sure, she could go with her other teammates, Ren and Nora, but ultimately, she'd feel left out. Ren and Nora had each other, despite Nora's insistence on not being 'together-together', Pyrrha would just feel like a third wheel.

_Great, another place where I feel out of sync._

She sighed. Her friends were leaving the cafeteria. Status quo was going to be maintained. Yang was going to have some 'fun' in the town with her partner... or more like Blake was going to keep her from blowing up half of downtown. Nora was going to see a new pancake shop that had opened, with Ren tagging along. Weiss would drag Ruby by the ear to the library so she could make up for the younger girl falling asleep in every morning class. That would leave Pyrrha with Jaune who'd need extra help with weekly homework.

But Jaune wasn't here. That just left Pyrrha alone.

_I suppose I could always get a nap in, I'm lacking sleep from last night to be cert-_

"Hey Pyrrha?"

The girl in question blinked in surprise at being addressed before turning to the person addressing her, the young red hair leader of team RWBY, Ruby. Everyone else had left the table while Pyrrha had been mulling over her thoughts.

"Hello!" Pyrrha said in a slightly tired, but still warm voice punctuated by a small hand wave and a smile.

"Umm…" Ruby looked unsure of her words, as if trying to pick out what to say, "H-how are you doing?"

The elder red head's face twitched ever so slightly, "I'm doing fine, a tad bored." _I'm fine. I'm perfectly fine._

Ruby tilted her head, "Y-you weren't fine last night so I was worried," the girl's eyes widened as she realized what she had implied however slight of an offense it might of been, "I-I-I mean, that's not to say that you aren't fine, but you were, uh, crying and then you show up like nothing happened, uh.. um…" she bowed her head, her chin nearly touching her chest, "You sure you're okay?"

_That's right, Ruby was there last night _Pyrrha's sleep deprived brain slowly remembered_. Last night had been a bit of a haze to her due to…well… due t-_

"Pyrrha?" The younger girl once more pulled the zoned out Pyrrha from her thoughts.

A tight smile graced Pyrrha's face as she regarded the fellow red head, a smile forged from years of being the public face of Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow cereal. A smile fake as the cereal was bad for you. "Sorry, I'm just a little tired."

"Oh." The short haired teen accepted the response, "If-if you aren't too tired wanna hang out?"

Pyrrha's head tilted. This was out of the norm. A quick glance around showed that Weiss was no where around. A concerned look started to form on Pyrrha's face while internally she was confused. The status quo was breaking in multiple places now. "I'm not too tired, but don't you have to study with Weiss?"

Ruby didn't shy away. Rather a goofy grin appeared. "Wellllllllllllll, Weiss' dad is in town so she had to go see him at some stuffy company meeting. So I thought, hey, Pyrrha is probably free today 'cause Jaune busy," the Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow cereal smile cracked for a moment at his mention before it was fixed, "Soooooo are you free?"

_It's either this or a nap… and realistically I'm probably not going to be able to find sleep so easy. _Looking down at her half picked over food, Pyrrha gave Ruby a slight nod, "Let me finish my food, then sure."

* * *

It was certainly a different type of Saturday for Pyrrha. Instead of spending the time to help Jaune or to improve her own abilities, she had several new experiences. Right now it was called Soul Calibur III: a game of two warriors fighting each other in the quest for a sword… or something? Ruby hadn't been very clear on the story of the game, merely that there was some sword called Soul Edge but it was nowhere near as cool as Crescent Rose.

Pyrrha hadn't had the chance to play many video games. After she started to win tournaments, her trainers had given her barely any time for activities outside of training or school. She had played a few times as a kid but that was before Sanctum, but that was easily over five years ago. Consequently Pyrrha was nowhere near Ruby's skill level in the game. The result was getting her sash-covered-butt handed to her round after round after round.

_Failure_. That was a feeling she hadn't experienced in a long time, having someone consistently beat you on a level playing field. Or was it? Failure certainly seemed to be the key phrase of her dynamic with her partner, it would seem. But that wasn't even a thing she h-

"PLAYER TWO DEFEATED"

"Pyrrhhaaaaaaa you gotta focus!" Ruby whined, even in the throes of victory, having defeated Pyrrha in the game fourteen times. In a row.

"Sorry!" Pyrrha's focus returned to the game as she tried to beat Ruby's scythe wielding character with Cassandra. She was going to win at least one match!

Failure, however, wasn't the most unique experience of the day. Rather it was when Pyrrha finally won a match after more failures then she'd care to admit: a facial expression not created to reassure people that she was fine or calm someone. Something that couldn't be ingrained into her by her publicists.

A goofy, genuine smile.

* * *

AU: This chapter took a while to finish. Most people always get sorta pissy at their first chapter and want to redo it. I think I can safely say the first chapter for _Acceptance _is my best work on this site. I very nearly put a completed tag on it because I didn't think that I could get anywhere near that level of quality in a second chapter.

I'm not going to say this is better then the first chapter, because its not. But I hope its close enough to it that you, the readers, are still interested. Like I said before this is definitely going to be a slow posting story. Namely because its a very drawn out bit and unlike, say, Dilation, it takes me a bit longer to write the chapters, just getting a concept down.

I hope you enjoy it and have a great weekend everyone!

* * *

Edited June 8th, 2015 by ASouthernRussian


	3. Chapter 3: Agitation

Chapter Three: Agitation

* * *

Pyrrha did not usually anticipate Monday with such a degree of dread.

The bane of most students' existence, Monday signaled the official end of the weekend and the coming of obligations. In the past, any apprehension Pyrrha would feel at the start of the school week would be centered on an upcoming exam or an upcoming grade. That, however, was not the reason for the apprehension today, rather; it came from her obligation to be with her team as a whole.

_Apprehension is a misnomer, _Pyrrha mused, _perhaps anxiety is more appropriate?_ She hadn't seen much of her team following Sunday's lunch. Whether that be from schedules not linking up or just an interest in not… seeing a certain team leader, the result had been Pyrrha barely talking to any of the members of team JNPR.

It certainly wasn't the reason Pyrrha had woken up extra early to get her morning training in. Nor why she had darted into the cafeteria the moment it opened to wolf down sustenance so she could leave in five minutes flat for more training. That certainly wasn't the reason at all. It most definitely wasn't the reason why she was standing outside professor Port's classroom debating whether she should take an absence for the day. _Anxiety seemed to be fitting._

_Why should I be anxious of going to class? I'm Pyrrha Nikos, champion of Mistral! _With a deep breath, she crossed the threshold and entered the classroom.

* * *

_Mondays suck_. It was a universal truth, no matter what her partner said, Ruby would stick by her gun-scythes on this; Mondays suck. It meant she couldn't hang out with her friends or stay up late playing video games or working on Crescent Rose because she had to be awake the next morning. _Mondays suck. _

Five minutes into the lecture and Ruby was already bored to tears by Port's ramblings about his adventures. There might be some kind of nugget of information worthy to note in them, but not enough to warrant the lecture of why the smell of cabbages is an honourable smell to have on one's person.

It didn't help that Weiss was a stick in the mud when it came to classes. _…that's not COMPLETELY true. I should be paying attention like Weiss does, but its so boringggggg._ Ruby let out a quiet huff of frustration.

A glance down to her notebook showed all the progress she had been able to make in note taking.

It was blank.

The blank notebook sat there, taunting her, with its empty lined pages, just daring her to pay attention and fill its many pages with records of what the mustached professor was saying. The problem was, whenever Ruby looked at its many pages, she didn't see it issuing her a challenge for improved academic performance. Instead she saw a convenient pillow with which to rest her head.

_Maybe if I just rest my eyes for a few minutes the cabbag- eep! _

Ruby squeaked as she felt a sharp jab in her side. Looking to the source of the prod, silver eyes found rather decidedly icy blue eyes of an heiress glaring at her. The icy blues' sheer intensity caused the red-haired girl to rethink her plan to gain forty winks.

_Focus Ruby Rose, you can do this!_ Ruby declared to herself with determination; Y_ou can take notes and make Weiss proud! You can do this!_

* * *

_Anxiety was a poor choice of a word, agitated is far more apt. _

Class had been going on for a good fifteen minutes, but it felt like eons to Pyrrha as she checked the clock for the umpteenth time. This was odd in and of itself, seeing as she normally enjoyed professor Port's retelling of his heroic deeds, even if she could not possibly fathom why the smell of cabbages was an honourable trait to possess.

Yet she found herself almost squirming in her seat. Might it be because of Jaune sitting next to her, the source of much… distress over the past few days? Pyrrha Nikos could admit that Jaune's actions had made her, well, sad.

Jaune was distracted today, not in his usual way of sleeping in class, as happens normally in Port's class, but because he was texting on his scroll. It was bugging Pyrrha and she didn't know why.

When she had entered the room with, only a few scant minutes before class started, Pyrrha had made her way over to her team, taking her customary spot next to Jaune. The blond gave her a hurried "Hi" before returning to what he had been doing; texting on his scroll. An ever-so-slight glance over his shoulder revealed who he was texting.

Velvet Scarlatina.

_Restless is a better word_, Pyrrha numbly thought, _agitated implies there is a provocation_. She was certainly restless; it felt like she couldn't sit still, that she had to get up and walk or even train to get whatever she was feeling out of her system. However, given the extra training she had done recently, she should have felt tired, not energetic.

So Pyrrha sat in class, her eyes darting every few seconds to the clock on the wall, willing time to progress faster. That is, of course, until a wad of paper tumbled onto her notebook.

* * *

Ruby wasn't going to make Weiss proud today. She had tried, really, really tried to be focused enough on the lecture so she could take notes. The end result, though, was a few lines of notes and a bunch of cabbage doodles.

Pages of doodles.

_Weiss is always willing to share notes right? Right._ Having already written off the class as a bust, that just left finding something to keep Ruby from dying of boredom for the rest of the hour. To her right sat the WBY of team RWBY. To her left in the next column of desks was team JNPR.

_Yang would totally think that a beowolf juggling cabbages would be hilarious!_ Ruby thought as she looked at her doodles. The error with that line of thought was that a certain white-haired heiress blocked off the sisters from each other. _Alright, time for option number two!_ A glance to her other group of friends brought a concerned frown to Ruby's face.

Pyrrha looked… well, she looked sadder than she was on Saturday but happier than Friday. She kept on glancing from her notes to the wall-mounted clock every handful of seconds. Almost like clockwork. A friend of hers was sad and gosh darn it, Ruby Rose likes her friends to be happy! A plan formed in the young girl's mind as she now had the perfect way to jettison some of her notebook doodles.

Ever so carefully getting the paper out of the notebook without attracting the attention of Weiss required strategy. Making sure the professor wouldn't see the toss required cunning. Landing the paper on Pyrrha's desk required skill. Luckily, Ruby had all three.

The end result was an amused grin from Pyrrha. Great success!

* * *

Pyrrha welcomed the distraction that the increasingly large pile of doodles she was acquiring provided. It was most likely not the best way to spend her class time, but it was fun. Her surprise at class finishing was only equal to her surprise upon realizing that she had stopped checking the clock nearly half an hour ago.

"Hey Pyrrha, would it be okay if we did training later than usual?" The amused grin gracing Pyrrha's face changedinto the professional smile as she addressed her partner. A pit of what Pyrrha could almost call worry was forming in her gut.

"Sure, we could start an hour later?" His brief nod was all the confirmation he gave before darting off, leaving Pyrrha behind in a swirling mess of emotions. The anxiety she had been feeling, which had partly receded during class, returned as Pyrrha came to a realization that gave her much distress.

_Agitation is the most appropriate, seeing as there is a provocation. _

_Jaune.  
_

* * *

AU: Third chapter is out. Yup, Pyrrha has some biggggggg issues with Jaune and they are going to be fun to try and settle. I think the style is far closer to chapter one, as I professed in the second chapter, I still think that chapter one is my best work.

Thank you for the reviews that I have been receiving, the more reviews I get honestly the more encouraged I am that this is a good idea.

I also found this lovely thing called Plutchik's wheel of emotions which helps a lot with this story, especially with finding emotions.

* * *

Edited June 10th, 2015 by ASouthernRussian


	4. Chapter 4: Tension

Chapter Four: Tension

* * *

Tension. Pyrrha Nikos' body was tense. Muscles were tightly coiled, threatening to burst to spring into action.

**_Clang!  
_**  
The sound of Milo meeting resistance. Pyrrha pushed forward, relying on strength to overpower it. She could move the object out of the way, or tilt it so it slid off of Milo. However, that in of itself held no purpose. Unexpectedly, the force yielded, causing the red-haired teen to nearly lose her balance.

**_Woosh!_**

A sword came in a fast sweep towards Pyrrha's head. Leaning back, the blade nearly struck the huntress' aura, it's lazy arc filling the girl's vision. Closer and closer, before the sword reached apex, the gray blade became smaller and smaller, as it swung past her head.

**_Clack-clack-clack_**

Milo reverberated from each hit. Metal grated on metal for a brief moment before Pyrrha pulled Milo back to block another of the increasingly wild sword swings. Forming a constant tempo of steel impacting steel, Pyrrha continued to block the assault.

**_Chink!_**

Milo taps her opponent by the flat of the blade. Not enough to hurt him, or even cause his aura to activate, but loud enough that it is audible. It signified an opening in his stance. The combat stopped as her opponent adjusted his stance, Pyrrha giving him a few pointers before the melee duel began again.

The process repeated itself, over and over again, as the Pyrrha and Jaune kept at it on the moonlight roof. A few opening strikes by Pyrrha, followed by Jaune responding in kind, eventually over extending himself and needing correcting. A process that Pyrrha had experienced for a few months, now. The fact that this process had been interrupted for the previous few nights had been odd in its own right, but ultimately out of Pyrrha's control.

Not that Pyrrha particularly needed the practice, no, but her partner certainly did. As much as Jaune had improved under Pyrrha's tutelage, he still had a long ways to go. In a sense it made sparring a relaxing exercise; Pyrrha didn't need to go all out to be a good instructor, but Jaune provided enough of a challenge to keep it interesting for her.

_Yet why am I so tense?_

One would think that anyone would be tense during a sword match, regardless if it was merely a friendly practice match. Usually Pyrrha felt a sense of relaxation during these matches, almost viewing it as a way to unwind at the end of a long day of class. Sure, she was tense; it was a sparring match after all… not, however, to the point where her knuckles were white from gripping Milo, such as today.

It felt like a knot was formed in her chest as she blocked another strike from Jaune, Crocea Mors sliding off Milo's length. _I need to relax_; Pyrrha took a deep breath in and letting it out, as she tried to loosen her grip. Not that Jaune made it particularly easy, taking the brief moment to lunge at her.

Crocea Mors bounced off Akouo, Pyrrha spinning into a low kick, her back taking the blow as she her center of mass shifted closer to the ground.

Jaune not expecting the leg sweep ended up on the ground.

"Ow." Jaune mumbled, stumbling to his feet, "I didn't even see you going for the sweep" his head hung down in dejection, "…are you sure I'm improving?"

Pyrrha nodded quickly, "Your swordplay has improved immensely!" It wasn't a lie, it truly had. When Jaune had started with her, he didn't even know how to hold a sword properly. The only reason he had ended up on his ass now, was because Pyrrha had been at this a lot longer.

The teen gave a weak smile, "Thanks, Pyrrha."

She gave a polite smile before looking at Milo, still in a death grip. Relax. I need to relax. Breathe in, breathe out. Little by little her muscles started to un-tense, the feeling of being ready to spring diminished. So caught up in this, she nearly missed what Jaune said.

"-I'm going to be busy this Saturday with Velvet, what about Sunday?"

Pyrrha blinked in confusion at Jaune, "I'm sorry?"

Jaune's head tilted, "The Captain Mistral movie… y'know the one you said you wanted to see last weekend… wanna go see it on Sunday?"

"Oh!" It took a moment for Pyrrha to realize what Jaune was saying, having completely forgotten about the movie. Her response was automatic; "Sure, that sounds grand!"

That was a lie; it actually filled her with apprehension of the negative variety. Tension swelled back up in her hands, her grip tightening once more.

Knowing that the source of it was Jaune did not make it any easier. In fact it just made Pyrrha feel guilty. Guilty that she was feeling… well, angry at the fact that it would be them going as friends and not the date she had envisioned seemingly a few short days ago. Guilty that she felt this way and Jaune had even remembered about the movie when she had forgotten entirely.

"Great! Uh." Jaune looked sheepishly at Pyrrha, "I know we usually do some aura training but…um, c-can I go early? Velvet said she'd help me with Oobleck's assignment…"

A slight face twitch was all that displayed on Pyrrha's face at the mention before the professional smile made its home. "That's fine Jaune; see you back at the room."

Jaune mumbled thanks as he hurried off the roof, leaving Pyrrha, alone.

Looking down at her right hand, Pyrrha kept a tight grip on Milo. With no one else around, the polite smile faded into a frown, emerald eyes staring at her clenched hand.

_Why does it feel like I'm in fight or flight mode? The match is over, and it's not like I usually get this tense, even during class matches.  
_  
Sighing loudly, Pyrrha took a deep breathe in, and held it for a count of five before releasing. The process repeated, again and again until the tension in her knuckles started to abate. The grip loosened, the metal hilt of Milo stopped cutting into Pyrrha's palm and formed a more comfortable grip. A natural grip, one that she normally had. A grip that she had spent years perfecting at Sanctum. It left a thought in her mind.

_Does Jaune really cause that much tension in me?_

* * *

AU: I'm back!

Okay I imagine that I'm going to get a lot of crap over this because this is by far the lowest quality chapter to date. In my defense I haven't written anything for fun in three weeks which sucks, and I'm sorry guys and gals. Seriously, I'm really sorry.

Yes there was a lack of Ruby this chapter, I know, its Pyrruby story, but I really felt the need to make the sparring its own separate chapter. The late night training is honestly the only time we see Jaune and Pyrrha having alone time in the show, and this story is as much as about Pyrrha and Ruby eventually getting together as Pyrrha's dynamic with Jaune.

Plus I have plans for the next few chapters. Actually I outlined the next 9 chapters or so. Maybe 11? I outlined a lot. I wasn't COMPLETELY idle during the last few weeks.

Unrelated to _Acceptance_, but still relevant, is that I will be putting new chapters out for my stories soon! Dilation should have one tomorrow, and _Skyros The Peerless_ within a week! (Sorry to averhan who I think my inactivity worried. You may of commented on _Skyros the Peerless_, but I know you read this as well mate :P )

Hopefully I will have a new Acceptance chapter this month!

Finally I have cover art! The wonderous Dashingicecream, the most dashing of all the iced creams, has provided, thank you kindly!

* * *

Edited July 8th, 2015 by ASouthernRussian


	5. Chapter 5: Infatuation

Chapter Five: Infatuation 

* * *

_Who is Jaune to me?_

It was a thought that had been occurring to Pyrrha more and more frequently as the week progressed, as it inevitably slipped closer and closer to the weekend. The thought had popped into her head again as she did early morning maintenance on Milo and Akoúo.

It was a very good question. One that she had been asking more and more as of late.

* * *

_Who is Jaune to me?_

At a very base level, Jaune Arc was her, Pyrrha Nikos', partner and leader of her team, Team Juniper. Pyrrha had been partnered with him at Initiation by her own hand. She grinned faintly at the memory; Jaune hadn't had a landing strategy, and Pyrrha being the kindhearted person that she is had nailed him to a tree. _Perhaps not the best of beginnings but at least he hadn't died!_

They had ventured into a cave, chased by a deathstalker, met up with the rest of their current friends and killed said deathstalker. Initiation had ended, and all Pyrrha had known at the time was that she and Jaune were going to be on the same team together as partners for the next four years.

When Pyrrha, Jaune, Nora and Ren got called up, Pyrrha had been certain, CERTAIN, that she was going to be assigned as the team leader. There wasn't a doubt in her mind. _I am a world renowned fighter as Weiss would put it,_ Pyrrha mused as she cleaned Milo's barrel, _so why put an untrained applicant in charge of the team? Then again, maybe they didn't know about it…_

* * *

The thought had again occurred to her as she sat with him on the airbus to Vale, giving him the usual reassuring pat backs as the blonde held a trash bag, praying for his last meal to not make a sudden reappearance.

_Who is Jaune to me?_

If someone went by personality, Jaune was a dorky goofball who tried to do the right thing. He could be inconsiderate in that regard and oblivious… yet never with any form of malice. Sure, he had all but refused any help when he had been failing. Whether it was because he had some stick-up-his-ass about pride or because he didn't want to burden his teammates, Pyrrha didn't know. _I'd like to think he didn't want to burden us…that is, what he said after all…_

Still, Pyrrha wasn't quite sure, he had, after all, refused help when it would have solved the whole issue. _Yet the fact that he did accept help would lend credence to not wanting to burden his team…_

For all his defects, he was still a good friend and cared for his teammates, his friends. From what Ruby had mentioned at one point, Jaune had been her first friend. Jaune had treated Pyrrha as he would anyone,_ although he didn't recognize me to begin with…_ He still had recognized her as a celebrity, if only because of his favourite cereal. Yet unlike some, or even most of the people Pyrrha had come into contact to, he hadn't treated her any differently.

The question faded to the back of her mind as the airbus landed.

* * *

As the seventeenth explosion in less as many seconds rang out, Pyrrha glanced at her partner. Jaune was staring at the multi-colour explosion, with admiration clearly on his face as Spruce Willis mowed down a whole squad of baddies with a gun that'd make even Professor Port blush. The question came back to the front of her mind.

_Who is Jaune to me?_

Jaune was an individual who wanted to become a hero. He wanted to live up to his family's legacy. So much so, that he cheated his way into combat school with literally no combat training. Even months after learning this, Pyrrha couldn't decide if it was the definition of courage or stupidity. She still leaned on the courage option.

He had a drive to honour his lineage, a drive that Pyrrha could completely understand. To bring honour to your family was never an un-noble notion. It was a noble one, especially to purse it with no initial formal combat training.

Perhaps that was the allure of Jaune Arc? He is so earnest and isn't letting something like a lack of training stop him. It ran counter to everything that Pyrrha had been taught. Her life was a heavily regimented one before Beacon; she had to strive every day to exceed what she did the previous day. It had taken her years to get to her current level. To most looking into a Combat School, the sheer level of skill the young students had would intimidate them. Jaune merely set that as his goal.

If that wasn't a praise-worthy goal to set, then Pyrrha didn't have the faintest idea what was.

Turning her focus back onto the movie, the thought was lost to the myriad of audio and visual stimuli courtesy of Mr. Spruce Willis.

* * *

The finale to the action-packed movie came to ahead as Spruce Willis and the Gemi Moore walked off into the sunset hand-in-hand. As always, there was a forced romance in the action movie, it was just how Vollywood worked.

Pyrrha found the romance unnecessary; _did Gemi and Spruce get together because they were just onscreen together?_ She shook her head at the thought. _Seriously, they seemed to share nothing in common._

"So what did you think about the movie?" Jaune piped up, breaking Pyrrha from her musings.

Pyrrha thought for a moment, a finger tapping her chin in contemplation, "It was… interesting; I liked the scene where Spruce Willis jumped from the building into a helicopter!" Jaune nodded vigorously.

"Yeah or when he took down that airship with a knife!" _Dam I forgot about that…_ "I especially liked Gemi Moore's character! She got the best one liners!"

Pyrrha shrugged her shoulders, "I didn't think she was that great… honestly, a little unnecessary."

Jaune's expression muddled, "Really? She made the film to me, without the romance the film wouldn't have been even half as awesome!" Conviction in his voice making it quite clear his viewpoint wasn't going to change.

* * *

_But why did Gemi even get with Spruce?_

It was a new thought that pervaded Pyrrha's head on the trip back to Beacon Academy. As far as she could tell they held no similar interests other than guns. _If they cut out the romance plot, nothing about the film would have changed. I don't get it. Perhaps it was just simple infatuation?_

Pyrrha sighed as she waited for Jaune to return from the onboard restroom… his stomach hadn't been able to brave the return trip. _The greasy theater food probably didn't help…_

She still couldn't fathom the motivation behind that particular facet of the story.

* * *

As Sunday came to an end, Pyrrha found herself finishing up her nightly training; putting round after round at the target opposite of her on the range. Her body started to go into an autopilot mode as her hands moved on their own, the act of firing Milo being drilled into her for years. With her mind free, a new thought surfaced in her head.

_Who is Jaune to me?_

A friend, teammate, fellow student, partner… and the object of her crush.

_Why do I like him?_

It was a question Pyrrha had never stopped to consider in full. Sure she could acknowledge why she admired him, or that he had personality traits that were positive… but she why did she like him _like him_?

_We both want to become a hunter… we both fight with a sword and a shield… These were traits not reasons. Because I feel attracted to him?_ Pyrrha cocked her head for a moment as she stopped firing.

_Maybe?_ It was odd to think of it in this regard; _Why DO I have a crush on him?_

Pyrrha racked her brain for a moment, _because he didn't treat me any differently?_ She blanched at that being the _only_ reason she could come up with.

_Is it really only an infatuation? _

* * *

AU: Originally this chapter wasn't going to exist. Honest to whatever deities you believe in, but Acceptance was planned for... seven chapters originally. I quickly realized that it wasn't going to work so the planned chapter count keeps climbing. At this point it is at sixteen, but I'm betting that it is still low-balling it. During my semi-hiatus I actually wrote out a design doc if you will. At the time I was hoping to finish in eleven chapters. Even the design doc pushed that to fourteen In the last...36 hours I've realized I need at least, AT LEAST Sixteen chapters not even accounting for key moments, without even accounting for stuff that will work their way in-between the key chapters.

Jaune and Pyrrha go to the movies... perhaps not the most original of plots but I'd like to think I made it unique this time. Once more there is a lack of Ruby, but I'm realizing that I have to widen my focus on this story to get everything I want to communicate done. To that end, well, some chapters are going to be missing other characters. The fact that Velvet has yet to appear is a big hole in my opinion and something I need to rectify still.

Thank you everyone for your continued support! I'm still astounded at the speed this has been gaining traction! Next chapter should be by the end of next week or sooner!


	6. Chapter 6: Gloom

**Chapter 6: Gloom**

* * *

_In-fat-u-a-tion_: An intense but short-lived passion or admiration for someone else or something.

Pyrrha re-read the definition again.

_A short-lived passion, eh?_ Pyrrha darkly chuckled at that, _I wouldn't say short-lived, it has been four months. _

The red-haired girl found herself in the library as a downpour happened outside. Pyrrha was idly looking through her scroll, her homework had long since been done; it had provided a suitable distraction over her current dilemma while it had lasted. The current dilemma was what had come to a head during the weekend; what were her feelings towards one, Jaune Arc?

Her first thought was to try and describe why she was drawn to him, why she was attracted to her own partner. Failing that, she had tried to use any word that would come to mind. Infatuation was the best one she could think of. Logically, she had gone and looked up the definition of the word after turning the word over and over again in her head.

_It should be simpler than this_, Pyrrha huffed at the idea of it being simple, _they are my feelings and I should know them!_

It boggled her mind that all she might have for her partner was an 'infatuation'… the word sounded dirty. It sounded like something a love-struck school girl would have… not…not her. Rather, it made Pyrrha sound like she was madly in lust with him…. Not to say she _didn't_ have certain fantasies but everyone had those, right?

Pyrrha could feel the onset of a headache as continued her admittedly subjective introspection of her feelings.

She started to type in a new term to search;

_Pas-sion_: a very strong feeling about a person or thing.

-a state or outburst of strong emotion

-an intense desire or enthusiasm for something

-a thing arousing enthusiasm

_That sounds… more accurate, so I have a passion for Jaune_. Pyrrha shook her head, _but a passion is an intensifier for an emotion… not an actual emotion. _Sighing, she set down her scroll to rub her forehead, trying to alleviate her headache. Slowly her head came closer and closer to the library table before resting in her crossed arms. _Why does this have to be so complicated? _

**_Ping!_**

As Pyrrha started to stew in her thoughts, her scroll's notification noise went off. A new text message. Her head titled upward to look at the device lying a few feet away.

Pyrrha stared at the device, unmoving; _it's not Jaune. He is on a study date with Velvet. Ren and Nora are sparring, so they probably aren't going to text… and that's everyone who'd be messaging me._ Pyrrha gloomily realized that she didn't have anyone else she really spent time with besides her own team. Once in a blue moon her team and team RWBY did something together outside of lunch and class, but that was just about it for her non-team interactions. _Maybe someone from team RWBY? _Pyrrha considered it before giving a slight shake of her head; _I never gave any of them my number. _

_Perhaps it's a text from the school?_ Pyrrha turned the thought over as she mulled in silence, _but wouldn't it be announced via the PA system? No, so that's not it._

**_Ping!_**

The scroll beeped again. The girl's eyebrows furrowed. Inertia stilled her hand from motion. _If its urgent they'll just call._

**_Ping!_**

Pyrrha's headache worsened. Her head sunk deeper into her arms, eyes half-closed. _I just want to be alone._

"Pyrrha!"

It was a familiar voice, not male, definitely female. It wasn't Nora. Pyrrha cracked an eye open slightly to notice a blur of black and red approach her.

Ruby Rose.

Scratch that, Ruby Rose carrying a stack of books taller than herself. _How does she even keep herself upright?_ Pyrrha watched as the rapidly approaching girl's stack of books leaned left then right, like a collapsing tower. The collapsing tower held off its imminent demise until it had reached Pyrrha's table… the tower leaned a tad too far one way before spilling its contents everywhere.

Pushing her head off her arms, Pyrrha made pulled, or tried to pull herself out of her current dazed, "Here, let me help you."

"Thank you thank you thank you!"

As Pyrrha busied herself with putting the books in neat stacks on the table, she glanced at the subject. Chemistry. _Huh, I wonder why she needs this many books since her partner is a walking database on all things dust, chemistry included._

"D-d-did you get my message?"

"Sorry?" Pyrrha blinked in surprise at Ruby's face as her brain sought to process what had just been said. _So THAT was who was messaging me_. "Oh! So that was you?"

"Yea!" Ruby nodded her head vigorously, so much so that Pyrrha was curious if she was using her semblance. "Um, so Jaune said you were really really good at chemistry" Ruby's eyes started to wander the room as her speed increased, " and Weiss is kinda busy but I sorta kinda have a big project due in it, and I was hoping that you could possibly help me with it, please?"

Pyrrha cast an eye on her own notebook, _It's not like it would be hard, I did just do it after all._ Looking back at Ruby, big silver eyes stared at her, clearly begging for help. It was hard for Pyrrha to contemplate even saying 'no'.

Giving a tired smile to pleading girl, "Sure, I'll be happy to help"

* * *

Something was off with Pyrrha.

Ruby couldn't quite place her finger on it, but something was definitely off with the older girl. It had started about a week and a half ago; Pyrrha seemed really distracted, zoning out quite a bit. _Okay most of the time. _

At first Ruby thought it was just something that Pyrrha was going through, something that she would come out of, like she failed a pop quiz; but if anything Pyrrha seemed to be more and more distracted ever since Ruby had found her in the training room that night.

_Come to think of it what caused her to…well, fall apart? _

It was a question that Ruby hadn't even thought to ask at the time. Pyrrha needed a hug and a shoulder to cry on. Cry silently to boot. Ruby didn't intend to pry, so she didn't ask anything at the time. As the week had gone on it had become abundantly clear that something was still troubling Pyrrha. When Ruby heard that Jaune and Pyrrha were going to see the Spruce Willis movie, she had hoped it'd help Pyrrha; Pyrrha always seemed to be the happiest around Jaune. _Which is natural considering they're partners. _

Yet the next day, she seemed even more distracted.

Ruby was not the most observant cookie in the cookie jar, but it seemed obvious to her after Pyrrha trailed off in mid-sentence the third time in as many minutes. It was weird. Pyrrha usually had the focus of a sniper rifle on whatever she was doing, something that Ruby could only admire.

"Pyrrha?"

The older girl blinked for a moment, "Hm?" Realization dawned on her as she tried to picked up where she had left off, "Sorry, right, now where were we?"

Ruby didn't answer for a moment, just staring at the redhead as she fidgeted. Inside, a battle was taking place between being concerned for Pyrrha and wanting to get the project done. "Are you okay?" It was a no contest fight.

Pyrrha's small smile twitched for a moment, "I'm fin-"

Ruby shook her head as words started to come out, "No, I, uh, don't think you are. You've been… been…" Ruby searched for the proper word as Pyrrha's expression started to take an inquisitive sheen. "You've been spacing out, like a lot. Like a lot a lot."

Pyrrha stared. And stared. Ruby was starting to question the wisdom of being this direct. Silence continued between the two, only punctuated by the pitter-patter of rain hitting the library's windows. _Maybe I should of just of been quiet?_ Ruby glumly thought. "Um, j-just forget I said anything, o-o-okay?"

To Ruby's surprise, Pyrrha's shoulders slumped slightly. That in of itself was weird; the elder girl usually had a straight back with shoulders pushed back proudly. "You're right." Ruby blinked _what_? "I've…just got a lot on my mind that's all."

Ruby slowly nodded, "D-d-do you wanna talk about it? Um… if that's okay?" Words started to spill out of her mouth, "I mean I'm not trying to pry, but I'm here if you need someone to talk to, but of course you know I'm here, you can see me!" Ruby's mouth wouldn't stop as Pyrrha's lips curved into a small smile, "B-b-but I'm not saying you can't see me, I mean, you can shoot a quarter at twenty yards, of course you can see me, that would be weird i-"

Ruby stopped as she felt a slight weight on her shoulder, Pyrrha's hand. Her other hand was covering her mouth, _is she laughing?_

"If I need someone to talk to, I'll come to you, okay Ruby?" Ruby nodded, _at least its something_. Pyrrha gave a small smile, her giggling subsided for now, before gesturing towards the mess of chemistry textbooks that had swallowed up the table.

"Okay, so where did we leave off?"

* * *

AU: Well that took longer then expected. Oh also the Rubbles is back! If my schedule sticks I only have eleven more chapters. Except I'm pretty sure I should have another not quite planned chapter for chapter seven. I know what purpose it will serve, but the actual content is something I still need to figure out. I intend to post the next faster then chapter six. Thank you for the continued support and reviews from everyone!


	7. Chapter 7: Envy

Chapter Seven: Envy

* * *

Pyrrha felt a pang of something in her chest as Velvet quietly laughed at Jaune's joke, the boy grinning wildly at her reaction. It was an unknown pang, almost like longing, except with a more harsh tone to it, less sadness and more intensity.

It was a feeling that Pyrrha had been experiencing whenever she saw the two together. Not that she went out of her way to see Velvet and Jaune on their 'study dates'… but over the course of a month she ran into them together a few times. If anything Pyrrha tried to go out of her way to avoid seeing them together it made her… uncomfortable to say the least along with that unknown pang.

As of late Pyrrha had tried to replace the time she'd spend helping Jaune study with Ruby. The younger girl was immensely grateful for the help, even her hard-to-please-white-haired partner had thanked Pyrrha for helping the young team leader out. It was an interesting change of pace for Pyrrha; studying with Jaune had been a quieter affair, with him listening and occasionally asking questions… even if Pyrrha had to prod him to do it when it was clear he was lost.

Ruby on the other hand was a far more… interactive experience. The younger redhead was far more energetic despite how dull studying could be, although Ruby could get distracted at the drop of a hat. _Most certainly a change of pace._

_Speaking of which, where is she?_ Pyrrha was headed to the library to help Ruby study, yet Ruby was nowhere to be found. Pyrrha had thought the girl would be at their usual table near the giant window, yet she was nowhere to be seen. _She did say she was here already_, Pyrrha thought as she double checked the message she had received on her scroll. _So where is she?_

Sending a quick text to Ruby, Pyrrha made another search through the library. Slowly, she worked her way through the aisles of bookcases, quietly peeking into unused study rooms, all while avoiding a certain corner of the library.

_I'll just take a quick look, that's all I need to do._ The teen gave the briefest of glances to the corner she had been avoiding. The imagery had changed, as a certain blond and rabbit faunus' heads leaned against each other as they quietly talked.

The unfamiliar pang from earlier swelled back up in Pyrrha's chest at the sight. It felt like something akin to anger but less intense. Like her breath was caught in the bottom of her throat. It made her feel like lashing out, not in rage but just because she could, because the world was being unfair to her.

Pyrrha barely noticed as a red blur appeared next to her, "I'm really sorry! I had t-" Pyrrha realized that in her absent-mindedness, she no longer had the customary smile or even a forced on her face. "A-a-are you okay?" _No. No I am not._ The problem was Pyrrha didn't know what exactly _was_ wrong, just that it made her swell with a uncontrollable emotion. Whatever it was, it made her want to hit something badly.

The older girl turned almost robotically to Ruby, "I just realized I have to do some last minute combat practice, excuse me." With that said, she started to briskly walk away.

"Wait!" a hand grabbed her shoulder, "I-I-I could be your sparring partner, if that's okay?" Pyrrha raised an eyebrow, "I'm not gonna get anything else done anyways…"

Pyrrha gave the younger girl a quick glance. _Ruby is ranked fairly high in our year for combat expertise…_

"Fine."

* * *

Milo and Crescent Rose clashed, the impact of steel on steel ringing throughout the empty room, the two weapons sliding away from each other. They met again, Crescent Rose sliding into a slightly more awkward position, Milo forcing it back.

For once Pyrrha wasn't holding back. She wanted to hurt something and something, or rather someone, had volunteered to spar with her. Without having to consciously hold herself back, her brain was free to wander instead of worry for her opponent's safety.

_Why does seeing those two together make me feel like…like this?_

Just thinking of Velvet and Jaune leaning on each other at the library caused her to feel that sharp... pain in her gut. _It's not anger, then what is it?_ The fact that Pyrrha didn't know was driving her up a wall.

Pyrrha was precise. Pyrrha was always in control. To not know what she was feeling meant that there was something she couldn't control. That was infuriating on a personal level to her. Her very combat style was about controlling what the opponent does, through subtle alterations.

The fact she still couldn't define what Jaune was to her, why she had a crush on him, was something that annoyed her endlessly. The fact that Pyrrha still didn't fully understand why she wanted him to notice her, wanted Jaune Arc to ask her, Pyrrha Nikos, out when there seemed to be no reason was beyond aggravating.

It was unacceptable.

_Why couldn't have it be me?_ Pyrrha blocked a swipe with Akoúo before counter attacking Ruby with a jab from Milo, _why did it have to be her and not me?_ _Why? WHY?!_

Akoúo slammed into Crescent Rose, knocking the weapon out of Ruby's hands. Pyrrha stewed in her thoughts as she waited for the match to renew._ What does she have that I don't, what does Velvet have that Pyrrha Nikos doesn't?_ The answer was simple.

_She has Jaune. _

The pang of hostility returned in full force as it suddenly clicked.

_Am I really that envious?_

The thought that envy was driving this… this rage in her caused Pyrrha to stop_. I am aren't I?_ The thoughts went from outward hostility to inward hostility.

_This is really petty._

Pyrrha's attacks lost their intensity as she turned over the new thoughts. _Envy implies that I want something… or someone. But that brings me back to the question of why do I want Jaune… why do I want to be with him? _

Her thoughts went back to the previous few weeks_. I might want him, but just the fact that he is with someone else shouldn't make me this… this angry!_ The focus shifted as Pyrrha tried to go to the root of the issue.

_What did he give me?_ Pyrrha thought back to when they first met. _He didn't judge me for being famous… he didn't treat me differently, but has to be more than that, right? Nora and Ren don't judge me nor does Ruby._

Pyrrha blocked a sweeping strike from Ruby with Akoúo, the force of the blow pushing her back a few inches as Pyrrha went on the defensive.

_Jaune is my partner and my friend... and I may be a little… infatuated with him, but why does seeing him with someone else cause such envy? If it was purely envy alone, I would have felt that for Weiss_. Pyrrha grimaced at the thought, _well, more than I did feel at any rate._

Pyrrha followed the line of thought as she was pushed further and further back, Ruby going almost entirely on the offensive. As Pyrrha's back touched the wall, she had another realization; why she felt this… this envy for what Velvet had.

Velvet had something, something that Pyrrha had desired more than any victory she had achieved, more than getting placed on Jaune's team or being his partner.

Velvet was no longer alone.

Pyrrha was envious that Velvet was no longer alone in the world, that she had someone who wanted to share his life with her. It was the end result that Pyrrha strived for with Jaune, yet she hadn't achieved it. In fact, with Jaune spending less and less time with Pyrrha, she felt more alone then she ever had.

Yet Velvet and Jaune were no longer alone.

The thought brought back some intensity into Pyrrha's moves, pushing Ruby back on to the defensive. It wasn't being in a relationship that drove this envy in Pyrrha, it was the feeling of isolation, the feeling that one of her few lifelines of real human contact were slipping away from her.

_Am I really that alone?_

It was a type of question Pyrrha had never asked herself directly. Her thoughts flashed back to Sanctum, of the comradery she felt when she joined before she started to win the tournaments, before her 'friends' stopped even sparring with her. _They would claim I was too out of their league for it to be even fair. _The look of familiarity, of teasing fun leaving her friends' eyes replaced instead solely with distant admiration. _When did they stop approaching me as an equal and as only fans? _Pyrrha shook her head slightly. _I suppose I was alone._

Jaune flashed into head, then Nora and Ren. Team JNPR, Pyrrha's team. Her friends. _Not quite_, Ruby popped into her head. Four people who Pyrrha would say were her friends. Yet Jaune's image faded, as if he was walking away. Another image appeared, much further away, at the destination Jaune's image was headed, Velvet.

Memories of her friends at Sanctum slowly going from friend to fan as they distance themselves rapidly flashed in her head, of how each of her life lines to another person slowly fell apart until she felt like a stranger in her own school.

_I don't want to be alone again! _Ruby was completely on the defensive as Pyrrha pushed, and pushed against the younger girl, hammering Milo against Crescent Rose again and again. _I might be envious of Velvet, but is it really so bad to not to want to be alone?_

_It is if I'm going to hurt someone._

With that realization, any anger she had faded as Ruby cut through what little remaining aura Pyrrha had, sending Pyrrha's aura into the red. A thought lingered in Pyrrha's mind as the automated machine announced Ruby Rose the victor.

_I just don't want to be alone again._

* * *

Editor: ASouthernRussian

* * *

AU: Well that was emotional to say the least. Hopefully Pyrrha will be okay... hopefully. This was a intense chapter to write, and it changed a few times as I wrote it but I'm back to the usual schedule of chapters I have planned now. So that is pretty good I think.

In my opinion this was easily the most complex chapter currently in the story.


	8. Chapter 8: Obligation

Chapter Eight: Obligation

* * *

Ruby woke up to a peculiar thought.

_I have nothing planned today._

That was strange to her; there was always a test to study for, stuff to do with her team, a video game to play. But as Ruby lay in her bed, she realized for once she had nothing planned for a Saturday. _Yay! That means more time for sleep!_ Rolling over, Ruby pulled the covers back over her, to catch a little more shut-eye.

…

…

…

…_wait_

Throwing the covers off, Ruby jumped off her bed and scrambled for her scroll, looking for something in the calender. There was something she had listed for today. Something so important that she had even bothered to mark it on her calendar.

The ValeExpo.

The ValeExpo was the largest gathering of developmental technology that was showcased to the public, where companies would hawk their products and give demonstrations of the latest advancements in their technologies. A gathering of the coolest gadgets, weapons, and tech on Remnant and a yearly tradition for Ruby, she hadn't missed a year since she was five. Ruby didn't intend to miss this one either.

* * *

_I wonder what everyone else is up to…_

Ruby couldn't help but wonder as the airbus seemed to ever so slowly make its way to Vale.

Usually Ruby went with Yang to the ValeExpo, but seeing as Ruby was meeting someone there already, Yang had opted out. That someone happened to be Weiss, but from what little Ruby gathered, it was strictly family business. Blake had a new book involving… ninjas of some kind? Ruby had only been able to get a brief glance at it's cover, so she didn't remember much. _I'm certain it said Ninjas of…well, something_. Her first friend from Beacon wasn't going to the ValeExpo either; the blond goof had a date with his girlfriend.

For Ruby, it was still odd thinking that Jaune had actually landed a girlfriend in the form of Velvet_. Sure, it's been a month, but after him asking Weiss three times a week for so long, I woulda thought he'd never settle for anyone else_. Given both her friend's new found love life and her partner's complete relief at the lack of sudden guitar serenades - _he really should have tuned it better_ \- life felt different. Not necessarily a bad kind of different, but different.

For one, Ruby felt like she saw less and less of Jaune outside of class, as the blond split his time between RWBY and JNPR and now Velvet. Originally, Ruby was going to go there with Jaune, but now that he's dating someone, he can't make time for hanging out with her. Ruby had hoped that maybe Jaune could bring Velvet along to the Expo, but apparently paying for the passes at the door was well out the realm of possibility for any of them. It felt a bit like what had happened their first semester, when Cardin had been bullying Jaune. _Except… he isn't being bullied, he just… isn't around. Hopefully he is spending time with his team. I wonder what Pyrrha is up-_ Ruby's thought stopped mid thought as her hand scrambled for her scroll. A new plan was forming as she pulled up Pyrrha's number and called. _Jaune gave me his ticket; maybe Pyrrha would want to come?_

Sadly the call went straight to voicemail. Giving a shrug of her shoulders, Ruby put her scroll away as a new thought emerged;

_What does Pyrrha do for fun?_

Ruby thought for a second, _Pyrrha always seems to be studying, or training, or helping Jaune train… I don't think I've even seen her read a book for fun._

It hadn't taken long for Ruby to figure out what her other friends at Beacon liked to do for fun, _Blake likes to read, Weiss-_ Ruby couldn't help but snicker slightly, _Weiss likes to watch really, really sappy movies. Jaune plays video games, Nora just enjoys… like everything?_ Ruby couldn't remember a time when she saw Nora NOT enjoying something. _Ren does… gardening_.

Yet for Pyrrha, Ruby had no clue.

_Even with all the time she has spent helping me with stuff, I don't think she ever does anything fun unless someone gets her to, like gaming!_ Every so often Ruby found a bit of time when Pyrrha wasn't busy and brought her over to the team RWBY dorm for some quality video gaming. Pyrrha wasn't very_…_good at it._ I can still beat her butt five ways to Sunday but she did try at least_!

_It's odd, I feel like I've spent a lot of time with her but don't really know her. I only ever see her studying or training._ Another thought popped into Ruby's head.

_Pyrrha has the same classes, so that meant all of her stuff was due last week and we haven't gotten new assignments yet… so what is she going to do today? Is she just going to train all d-_

A ping from the intercom broke Ruby's thoughts "We will be touching down in Downtown Vale, Terminal 3 in thirty seconds. "

* * *

As the airbus landed in Vale, Ruby was immensely thankful for her semblance. Any other person, any other hunter, would have missed that airbus. Any other hunter wouldn't have been fast enough to get ready in under a minute. Any other hunter wouldn't have been able to zoom from the airbus terminal to the convention center in forty seconds.

_If I didn't have this speed I would have missed it_, Ruby shuddered at the thought, before excitement returned to her, as she walked towards the large exhibit hall. A quick flash of her pass to the check-in lady and she walked through the doorway.

A huge room, easily large enough to fit a dozen airships, greeted her. Booths filled the room, and a maze of corridors and people filled the space between them. A maze to the untrained eyes, but Ruby was no newcomer, _I have been going to it for ten years, haven't I?_

Where one might see an impenetrable wall of people, Ruby instead saw a number of paths leading into the sprawl; twisting, windy paths to be sure, but those were enough for her. It was with little surprise that Ruby jumped into the throng of the crowd.

* * *

Unlike her previous times, Ruby had a specific place at the convention to look for. _Weiss DID say she'd be at the Schnee Dust Company area…_

Ruby still wasn't quite sure as to why Weiss was going to be at the ValeExpo. _She didn't seem that interested or excited… so why is she here?_ It really didn't make much sense, _if she doesn't want to be here, why is she? _Odder still, Weiss wasn't planning on leaving the SDC area._ Maybe she is the SDC representative?_

Nevertheless, Ruby was excited to have someone new to come hang out with at the Expo. She usually went with Yang, although Yang tended to zone out on any of the more technical stuff that Ruby found fascinating. _Unless explosions or fire are involved, that is always interesting to Yang._

Meandering her way over to where - if the brochure was correct - the SDC exhibit would be, Ruby saw a familiar face, although not one she expected. In one of the larger areas, where the Knossus Company was showcasing its newly enhanced 'MinoMaze Mark VI' drones, a half dozen company representatives stood on a elevated platform surrounded by a crowd of a few hundred. Yet it was the red-haired girl standing with the reps that stood out to Ruby.

"…and to help us demonstrate how much they've improved over the Mark V's, let me give a warm welcome to four-time Mistral champion, Miss Pyrrha Nikos!"

As if on cue, Ruby watched as her fellow classmate gave a quick wave to the crowd as she took a step forward.

"Miss Nikos will be engaging in a mock match with our new and improved mark VI." A few ooo's and aww's were heard. "Don't worry folks, the match will only be to the tournament regulations, and with the superb safety features of the Mark VI, Miss Nikos will never be in any danger." The speaker turned to Pyrrha. "Miss Nikos, are you ready?"

Pyrrha gave a smile as she nodded and closed the distance between her and the MinoMaze mark VI, a nearly seven foot tall robot, armed with a wicked looking chainsaw sword and tower shield.

"Begin!"

* * *

The demonstration was not particularly exciting. In fact, if Ruby was being completely honest, it seemed like Pyrrha was holding back. _A lot._

_When I sparred with her, I could barely hold my own until the end! _Yet as Ruby watched Pyrrha and the MinoMaze trade blows, blows that Ruby was certain Pyrrha could see coming from a mile away, she saw a complete lack of ferocity. It was like Pyrrha's strikes were muted.

Not that the crowd noticed, as they ooo'd and aww'd, flinching from the sparks spent flying from the two combatants' weapons meeting.

_Heck, Pyrrha can manipulate... metal…I think? _Ruby knew she saw Pyrrha move Jaune's shield last semester. _This should be a breeze, right?_

* * *

_Contracts are annoying._

Pyrrha didn't have any particular plan for her day, but due to her continuing contract with Knossus, occasionally she was ask to take part in demonstrations. It was a rather annoying obligation for Pyrrha, seeing as she was contracted by the company for another three years.

What was worse was the fact that she had been asked to put on a good show by fighting what was little more than a dumb droid. _At least when I'm sparring with Jaune I don't have to worry about hurting him due to aura; this thing would probably shatter if it blocked a full strike from me! _It was frustrating; she knew the company representative would tell the crowd it was a draw. After all, they couldn't very well have her lose to their new robot, nor could they have the robot win. To have an actual victory for a side meant that there would be a loser; either Pyrrha would lose her moniker as the invincible girl or the robot would lose some of its credibility.

Block. Feint. Stab. Dodge. Slash. Duck. Block. Dodge.

At a certain point the moves just became mechanical for Pyrrha. _It's not like anyone could really tell the difference. _In essence, the fight was boring, a facade of a challenge meant to trick the viewers.

_Any second now…_

Pyrrha pulled away from the drone as the representative of the company stepped between the two; the robot's attack ceased. "As you can see, the mark VI has made vast improvements over the previous model…"

Pyrrha tuned him as she analyzed the fight. _If anything, the Mark VI was slower than the last model… probably added too much armour to it without upping the power in its joints. Pyrrha gave a quick glance at the drone before continuing, I still don't see why they don't just have weapons built into this. The Atlesian Knight series does that and they can't be disarmed unless, they are actually dis-armed. Seems like a-_

"Hiya, Pyrrha! I didn't think you'd be here!"

Pyrrha didn't even give a glance as she replied, "Hello Ruby"_ –a fairly large design flaw... wait, what?_

The Mistralian girl did a double take as she realized that Ruby was literally standing next to her. _Where did everyone else go?_ The company rep was talking with members of the crowd who had migrated to a different part of the Knossus company area.

_How long was I standing here? _The fact she hadn't even notice people leaving was alarming. _To be fair, the speeches they always give after a demonstration tend to run together after a while. Why didn't I even notic-_ a pale hand waved in front of her face.

"Remnant to Pyrrha, are you there?"

Pyrrha's train of thought was broken as Ruby pulled her out of her internal musings. "Yes, sorry, how long was I standing here?"

Ruby tapped her chin as she thought. "Like… a minute or two?"

A small frown started to form. "Sorry, it's just bee-"

"Miss Nikos!" The Knossus company rep came jogging over followed by the MinoMaze mark VI, "Would you mind doing the next demonstration in three hours?" the man asked as he gave her an apologetic look. "I know we don't have you officially booked for the next one but…but… um." The rep's words became a jumble as he noticed something startling. Pyrrha followed his gaze as she noticed Ruby staring that the mark VI, open mouthed- _is she drooling? Is she okay?_

"Ruby, ar-"

Even before Pyrrha started to speak, she noticed that all that was left where the hooded girl stood were a few rose petals floating in the air. At the moment, Ruby was poking the MinoMaze and quietly talking to herself. "Armour is a bit thicker, especially the joints." A flurry of rose petals trailed behind her as she zoomed off to examine it at a different angle. "Are they using the same servos for the joints as they did for the Mark Vs?" Another flurry, "Ooo, a chainsaw sword… but does it have a gun mode?"

"Miss Nikos." The company rep was trying to get Pyrrha's attention again, "Can I put you down as the demonstrator for the ne- ack!"

Ruby seemingly teleported between the Knossus rep and Pyrrha and interjected, "Why didn't they change the loadout from the Mark V? Even the old Atlesian knights had a gun."

The rep gave Ruby a annoyed look. "Well you see, we are currently developing a variable array of weapons that can be implemented within the ye-"

"You mean like the Atlesian Knight 130 arms?"

The rep's face twitched. "No, ours are quite different, and, if I do say so myself, better ma-"

"Really?!" Ruby seemed even more excited, "Weiss showed me how they make them once; does Knossus also do three year trials?"

"Of course we do!" The man's patience was running fairly thin, yet as far as Pyrrha could tell, Ruby didn't notice. "It's within safety regulations for dron-"

"So why did you put more armour on the mark VI?" Ruby seemed to be almost hopping up and down as she started to rattle off questions, "Is the armour plating going to be interchangeable? What about the shield? Are there going to be different versions of the shield - or a dual weapon system!? Why was the fight on safety mode, was it 'cause of the crowd? Why not make the model shorter, wouldn't that make it faster?" Pyrrha blinked as she watched the rep try and fail to get a word in.

"Well, you s-"

"Are you going to put a flight mode into it? Like a jetpack or maybe rocket wings?"

"That is top se-"

"Is there going to be a heavy ordnance loadout? How effective is it against larger Grimm, like a deathstalker? Does it have its own intelligence or is it remote controlled? Will there be separate paint options? Will it be a non-vocal model like the Mark Vs?"

Ruby finally stoppedas her face went blue. _I guess even Ruby needs to breathe at some time. I have to wonder if she could talk as long as Nora did when we ran into that pancake chie-_

"What did you say about a safety mode, Miss…" The rep squinted at the name scrawled on Ruby's Expo pass before continuing, "…Rose?"

"Oh! The Mark VI was on its safety mode right?"

"…no?"

The excitement that Ruby had up until that point dropped. "Aww, so that's why Pyrrha was holding back."

"What do you mean… 'holding back'?"

"Uhh…" Ruby looked at Pyrrha with a perplexed expression, as if wondering whether or not she said the right thing. "Y-you were holding back, right?"

Pyrrha's usual smile turned into a sheepish one. "A… little." A short silence pervaded over the three.

"I've sparred with Pyrrha. She usually isn't that… slow." Ruby finally said, "I mean, I think even Jaune could beat it."

…_she's not wrong._

Ruby leaned in to look closely at the lower half of the MinoMaze, "In fact, I mean, I'm pretty sure if I tapped here the leg would come off-". Rather suddenly, the company rep seemed to gain Ruby's semblance as he nearly teleported between Ruby and the drone.

In the absence of Ruby's voice, Pyrrha became very aware of the murmurs of the growing crowd gathering around them.

"Miss Rose, it was nice to meet you, but, uh, I need to take this call, uh," the rep was fiddling with his scroll as he turned to Pyrrha, "Thank you for the help with the demonstration Miss Nikos, but we have, uh, found a suitable person to help with the next demonstration. You may take your leave. Now." The rep gave a jerk of his head towards Ruby while looking at Pyrrha. To Pyrrha, the meaning was clear; _we probably should not come back to the Knossus booth anytime soon…_

* * *

Even after they left the booth, Ruby couldn't help but feel curious about the MinoMaze Mark VI, _I really wish he had answered my questions… I mean I want to know if they are going to have jet powered boots o-_

"Hey, Ruby?" Ruby turned and noticed Pyrrha looking at her scroll, "Did you try to call me?"

"Yup! I wanted to know if you were free, 'cause I have a free pass to get in, buuut since you're here, that kinda answers it!" Ruby stopped walking as she looked up at Pyrrha, "Sooo which exhibits do you want to go to first?"

Pyrrha's bright green eyes stared back in confusion. "I'm sorry?"

"Uh, well, um…" Ruby was puzzled at Pyrrha's lack of understanding. _Maybe I didn't speak clearly enough_? "Where do you want to go first?"

Pyrrha continued to stare blankly at her friend before finally her eyes finally left Ruby and started looking around. After a few moments, Pyrrha pointed to a small booth containing a rather aged man, with a half dozen glass cases of dust in front of him. "How about that one?"

"Sure!" Ruby grabbed Pyrrha's hand as she dashed into the crowd, not wanting to lose her friend in its midst. _Jaune not might have been able to make it, and Yang didn't want to go but I have Pyrrha_. The fact Ruby had someone to enjoy the Expo with, whether planned or not, was something she was immensely grateful for.

_This is going to be so much fun!_

* * *

Pyrrha was very thankful for the open seats in the airbus. The vast amount of walking - or rather running due to Ruby's hyperactive pace - had left her legs with a soreness that made Pyrrha wonder if she should add more running to her training schedule.

Sitting down, Pyrrha was left running through the events of the day.

Pyrrha had expected to do a demonstration or two before leaving the Expo. What she hadn't expected was for Ruby to show up and drag her all over the place.

_Not that it was unwilling, it was just… different._

Pyrrha had been to a number of expos before; it came with being a celebrity. Unlike most attendees, however, Pyrrha was always invited to demonstrate something or endorse some technology or product. The ValeExpo was nothing new.

A few times, early on in her career, she went to these expos or conventions with the idea of attending as, well, as an attendee after her demonstration or endorsement was over. The problem with that was she'd be approached by representatives of companies who would start talking business with her and try to set up a demonstration of their own with Pyrrha. _It's like they are waiting for me around every corner, I swear._ _They know when my booked appearances end and where I am._ It made it hard for Pyrrha to enjoy the actual event.

Ruby made this particular time around different; any time a representative had approached Pyrrha today to ask if she would mind representing some new product or participate in a demonstration, Ruby interrupted. _I don't even think she knew what she was doing,_ Pyrrha thought as she eyed the tired girl. The bombardment of questions she asked about the product had been so earnest; Pyrrha couldn't help but wonder if Ruby knew she was scaring off the representatives._ I think she just really wanted to know more about them. I mean, they are all related to Grimm hunting, which seems to be what she care about the most._

Pyrrha leaned back in her seat as stared out the window, the airbus gaining altitude as Vale became more and more of just a series of lights as the buildings faded into the darkness of the late hour.

_Obligations_.

It was a funny word to hold so much power in Pyrrha's life._ Just because I am good at fighting, people think I'm obligated to speak on their behalf. _That wasn't completely true. Companies had offered to sponsor her and what girl doesn't want to be famous when they are thirteen? The obligation didn't come from winning but from accepting offers from companies.

At first, she hadn't thought of them as obligations; as a thirteen year-old girl who had suddenly been told she was going to be a celebrity… it had gone to her head a little at first. Pyrrha had enjoyed being shown on the TV a few times, the interviews. Being shown on the front of Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow cereal had been a real treat at the time.

It was after the third victory that these events, the interviews, and the endorsements started to feel less fun. At that point, however, Pyrrha was obligated to do them regardless if she was excited to do it or it was even fun anymore. It had become work in essence, maintaining a public appearance. To be sure, the obligations never meddled with her education, but they still popped up every now and again, just like this ValeExpo.

_If it was an obligation, why did I stay after I had finished the demonstration?_

The answer, of course, was the red-headed girl sitting across from her.

_Was I obligated to stay because of Ruby?_

Pyrrha knew the answer to that was no, Ruby wouldn't have minded. If she left, after all, Weiss had been there, Pyrrha and Ruby running into her briefly. _Sure, Weiss was obligated to stay near the SDC booth as she was one of the representatives for the company, but Ruby wouldn't have been alone. So then why did I stay?_

_I stayed because I was having fun._

* * *

Editor: ASouthernRussian

* * *

AU: This is a very different chapter. If anything its closer to the second chapter. As you can probably tell there is no overarching emotion. For the people that have said the first seven chapters were me doing a prologue…. Well to be honest at the time I would disagree. When I published chapter seven a week ago, the numbers of chapters I had planned was sitting at about seventeen. A week later and it's climbed to thirty four. I shit you not, this literally just doubled. Heck this chapter and the next arc (pardon the pun) are things that I realized were necessary about four days ago.

I was committing a cardinal sin with Acceptance; I was telling not showing. Sure I could tell all I want with Arkos, after all that is not the ship I'm trying to create. On the other hand I was not _showing_ Pyrruby. The closest thing I have to a mentor for writing RWBY fanfiction is SuperSaiyanCyndaquil who has told me numerous times when I come to ask for advice, "write the story you want to read" and what I want to read is some Pyrruby emotions/fluff/cuteness. I'm not saying I'm going to stop doing the heavy emotions. By all means, that is still going to happen, but if my experience with writing my drabble collection for ladybug has taught me, its that the dynamic between two individuals is not something that can be easily pointed to as set points; rather it's a series of events of some level of importance. Even the most seemingly inconsequential thing furthers or alters the dynamic between two individuals in some manner or form.

For at the least the video game industry, the price at the door for passes at a Game Conference is insanely high. I'm talking several hundred to over a thousand for a pass, taking into account student pricing. A bit of out of character information, but Taiyang gets like two passes each year for it, for Ruby and Yang. Jaune was going to use Yang's pass. To be fair, this isn't the same thing, but it's still a few hundred lien for at the door prices.

Pyrrha was being a bit of a space cadet as well.

Rewatching parts of episode 3 of vol 2, I realized that Ruby never looks both ways when crossing the street. Ruby Rose lives dangerously literally.

**IMPORTANT**: Having just finished editing and about to submit it, I can't help but feel the departure from the normal format of Acceptance was too big. I don't want to get on my knees and beg, but I am writing this for you guys and gals reading it, so I would like to know if the change in style was a bad thing? I can return to the usual format for the next chapter but I need to know for the future. I guess I'm really needing reviews on your guys and gals opinion on this chapter.

Have a great day!


	9. Chapter 9: Assent

Chapter Nine: Assent

* * *

Regardless of anything that would happen after this point, Ruby considered the night to be a success, notwithstanding the accursed lady stilts. Blake looked like she finally had gotten some kind of sleep; better yet, Blake looked like she was having fun with Sun. _Heck, she's even laughing!_ Ruby couldn't help but feel a sense of accomplishment as she watched the two faunus slow dance in the crowd.

_Time to get some punc- oh dust! _Ruby was barely able to grab a chair to prevent her from face planting into the ground. "Stupid lady stilts!" Gingerly letting go of the chair, Ruby's balance wobbled as she tried not to introduce her face with the ground. Having steadied herself, Ruby glared at her feet. _Maybe if I didn't wear these things, I could actually have fun!_

Looking around and not seeing anyone who wasn't already busy dancing, Ruby did something she learned at Signal: when at a school dance and not with your friends, head towards the punch bowl. Usually, at least one of her friends would be there..

However, given that the process required, y'know, walking with, well, her stilted feet, Ruby thought her chances of success were about fifty-fifty._ Just focus on walking and I'll make it in one piece. Hmm... I wonder who would be there?_

_Jaune_? Ruby considered it as she slowly, SLOWLY made her way towards the refreshments table. Ruby didn't want to assume things, but Jaune sounded like someone who would hang out at the punch bowl. _Exceeeeept he has a girlfriend now, so maybe not?_ The thought made Ruby feel like a bad person; _it feels like we barely hang out at all. Sometime, we need to hang out again and, like, do and all-night gaming marathon! We haven't done that in a while, like… since Dark Aura II came out last semester._

Resolute on the fact that there just might be indeed only punch at the punch bowl, Ruby was pleasantly surprised to find Pyrrha quietly sipping some punch.

* * *

"I see you are hiding at the punch bowl too."

Pyrrha didn't even look at the speaker before responding, "Perhaps." After a moment, "Are you?"

"Yup." Ruby popped the end of the word before sipping from her glass. Pyrrha gave a chortle before taking a sip from her own. "I take it you don't have a date either?"

Pyrrha gave a noncommittal shrug. "No one of interest to me and no one asked me." _The only person that did interest me is taken. I believe the term is 'bad form' when asking someone out who already has a girlfriend_, Pyrrha thought sullenly. Giving a glance at Ruby, "Same for you?"

Ruby didn't say anything for handful of seconds. "Something like that, yup."

Pyrrha looked out into the crowd. She could pick out a few faces; the rest of team RWBY was scattered throughout the dance as well as her own teammates. It seemed to be mostly upperclassmen at the event. _Ren and Nora look like they are having fun_, Pyrrha mused as she watched the two danced together. _I wonder if they'll ever get 'together-together'._ Jaune, on the other hand, was seated off to the side with his scroll out. _Probably messaging Velvet_. Pyrrha's partner had more than a little disappointed when team CFVY's mission went longer than expected._ I'm worried about him; he looked so crestfallen when he found out that Velvet couldn't make it._

If Pyrrha was being completely straight with herself, she would have left the dance already or not shown up in the first place. The only reason she had decided to attend the dance rather than skipping it for late-night training was because of another of her teammates, Nora.. Specifically, Nora wanted to do a... spontaneous dance… or something? Pyrrha had practiced the choreography; after all, dancing was not all that far from fighting, was it not? Even without his date, Jaune had showed up for the surprise routine, and Pyrrha didn't intend to be the one to ruin Nora's planning.

The problem with staying, though, was that there are so many couples there. Pyrrha knew she was envious of Jaune and Velvet - that much she had admitted to herself. But to see all of the others from her social group, sans Ruby and Yang, have a date of some form made her feel left out. It made Pyrrha feel more than a little lonely.

"Not enjoying yourself?" Ruby queried after a few minutes.

Pyrrha thought for a moment. _It's not so much as having a less-than-fun time as I'm just standing here with nothing to do. Although by that logic, I am still not having a fun time._ "I really just don't see why I'm here."

Ruby cocked her head as she looked up at Pyrrha. "What do ya mean?"

"How to put this…" Pyrrha set her glass down as she thought. "Dances are for couples to get together and have a reason to spend a night together, right?" Ruby gave Pyrrha a funny look.

"No…?" After a few moments of confused staring, Ruby's face lightened up with understanding., "You haven't been to many dances before, have you?" Pyrrha gave a quick shake of her head causing Ruby to frown. "Well…um… I go to them because I like being with my friends and seeing them be happy."

Being happy… Pyrrha knew a little bit about what had happened with team RWBY recently; something involving the White Fang and Blake withdrawing into herself. Pyrrha could see the girl was happily dancing with what she could only assume was Blake's date. _Sun if I remember correctly. I suppose Ruby is correct._

"That's… a unique way to look at it." Pyrrha took a sip from her glass.

Ruby shrugged, "It's just why I go to them."

"Mmm."

Ruby shifted on her feet as the two continued to stand there, although from nervousness or something else, Pyrrha couldn't tell. "How come you didn't go to any school dances before? I mean, they have them at Mistral right?"

"They do, just I never had a date." Pyrrha answered simply as she took another sip of punch.

"Oh." Ruby was quiet for a few seconds as she stared into her glass of punch before looking back up at Pyrrha, "So where's Jaune? I haven't seen him or Velvet yet…"

Pyrrha dipped her head towards the seats lining a wall, where her partner sat, scroll in hand. Ruby looked around as her brows furrowed, "Where's Velvet? I don't see her though…"

Pyrrha cocked an eyebrow. "Team CFVY is still on their away mission, remember?"

Ruby face-palmed. "Riiight. Forgot about that." Ruby kept looking at Jaune. "He looks kinda sad."

Pyrrha shrugged. "Velvet didn't show up, and he was looking forward to going to the dance with her, so he probably is." Ruby gave Pyrrha another curious look.

"You should go cheer him up then!"

Already the question of _Why me?_ was on the tip of Pyrrha's tongue, except she already knew the answer to it: _because Jaune is my partner and teammate, so I should help him._

_It's the right thing to do._

* * *

"Hello, Jaune."

The boy looked up, disappointment lingering on his face. "Oh, hi, Pyrrha."

"Mind if I take a seat?" Pyrrha motioned to the row of open seats next to Jaune. Jaune wordlessly gestured with his hand, his eyes going back to the scroll.

Sitting down, Pyrrha sat quietly as she planned her next action. _How do I cheer him up? It's not like I can replace his date. _Running out of ideas, Pyrrha went with the most honest approach.

"Are you okay? I haven't seen much of you tonight."

Jaune closed his scroll, before his head sank down. "I wish Velvet was here," he let out with a sigh. "That's all." Turning to look at Pyrrha, he gave her a small smile, "Well, you _look_ really nice."

Pyrrha felt a twinge of jealousy towards Velvet as she gave a forced grin in return. "Thank you, you look handsome as well."

Jaune snorted, "Thanks, Velvet said so too." Looking away, Jaune started scanning through the crowd. "Your, uh, date isn't going to beat me up for saying that, is he?"

"I think you're safe for tonight." _Mostly because I didn't get a date._

"So, where _is_ the guy?"

_There was you, but you've been off the table for the last month and a half._ Pyrrha quirked an eyebrow. "There is no guy."

Jaune recoiled as he went from scanning the crowd to looking at her. "What?" Confusion was written all over his face.

Pyrrha shook her head a little sadly. "Nobody asked me out."

"But that's…" A small part of Pyrrha found Jaune's reaction funny as she watched him gesture wildly with his hands. "You're Pyrrha Nikos! H-how could nobody ask you?!" The confusion had changed into shock.

Pyrrha sighed and, with an almost monotone voice, explained the situation to the dumbfounded boy. "I've been _blessed_ with incredible talents and opportunities." Pyrrha paused as she looked up into the dance, feeling Jaune's eyes track her. "I'm _constantly_ surrounded by love and praise, but when you're placed on a pedestal like that for so long, it becomes hard for any sort of meaningful relationship with people." In the crowd, Pyrrha could see Blake, Sun and Neptune, laughing together. "It makes it hard to have friends, to know anyone on a personal level. It's why no one asked me or ever does; the fact I _am_ Pyrrha Nikos is a barrier"

Jaune could only stare, his mouth opening and closing as he tried to come to grips with what Pyrrha had said. Pyrrha sat quietly as she waited for Jaune to finally process what she had said. "But t-t-that's… wow." Jaune looked down at his hands before looking back at her. "Y-y'know I don't think of you that way, right?"

Pyrrha gave a quiet chuckle at Jaune's expression. "That's why I'm happy to know people like you. You and Ren and Nora and Ruby's team treat me just like they would for anyone else." Pyrrha gave a glance at Ruby as she was being helped off the ground by Yang. "It's why I'm sitting here, wanting to make sure my friend is okay after his girlfriend couldn't show up."

Jaune gave a weak but earnest smile. "Thanks Pyrrha, you are the best." Pyrrha barely managed to suppress a sigh at the smile as Jaune glanced at his watch. "Um. I should get going; I do have a deal to up hold." Pyrrha's gaze narrowed as she stared confusedly at him. "Remember? If you didn't get a date, I'll wear a dress. Heh heh heh." Jaune nervously rubbed the back of his neck.

"Wha… oh." Pyrrha couldn't help but to start laughing as Jaune embarrassedly looked away.

"I…I am going to take it as my cue to leave…" Jaune started to hurriedly walk out of Pyrrha's sight, as he called out, "I'll be back before eleven, see ya then!"

Pyrrha felt a sense of satisfaction as she watched Jaune leave; it felt good to talk to him. _All things being as they are, at least we can be friends._

That was something, at least.

* * *

Editor: ASouthernRussian

* * *

AU: If any are wondering its not because Velvet is taking away all of his time, its just… she is a less effective study partner then Jaune. Maybe because I think she failed Oobleck's class and had to repeat it or the fact that Jaune can easily get off track and Velvet is a little bit less forceful compared to Pyrrha when it comes to Jaune studying. Like the second episode of vol 2 when Pyrrha takes away his comic? I don't think Velvet would do it from what little of her personality we've seen.

Pyrrha is slightly less dejected in this version of the dance if only because, well its been something like a month and a half since Jaune and Velvet started dating. While yes, she is dejected, Pyrrha is still good friends with Jaune. Maybe not best friends given how strained their dynamic is (although Jaune views Pyrrha as his best friend after Ren still).

As my editor, who I realized I've never actually named at this point, his name is ASouthernRussian, should get named somewhere in here... now he is. Hi ASouthernRussian!

Okay so real talk time now;

Thank you guys and gals who reviewed so much! It really does mean a lot to me and it helps me see that people actually read this story. I'm going to try and actually PM everyone who reviews (sorry to guest users, I would if I could), which I really should of given you people taking the time to write a review. If my current rate of writing keeps up, I'm going to try and post at least once a week. I'd like to post a new chapter early next week, but we will see what happens. In all honesty I was going to have this posted on Tuesday, but there was scheduling conflicts so it kept it from being posted for a few days.

**TL;DR**: Thank you for all the reviews I got for chapter eight. Like thanks a lot. I'm going to try and write faster now due to those reviews.

OH! BEFORE I FORGET (which I totally did for a while); but what did you guys and gals think of Pyrrha's speech at the end? Specifically the pedestal speech, bit.

**_MOST IMPORTANT THING YOU'VE EVER READ EVER:_** It was Velvet's dress.


	10. Chapter 10: Doubt

Chapter Ten: Doubt

* * *

_Did the Grimm really destroy this much?_

The thought entered Ruby's mind every time she went to Vale. Admittedly, it had only been a few days since Breach, so it was not often this thought popped up. Ruby had been at the center of the action for the entirety of the Breach, but for the life of her, she couldn't remember all THAT much being destroyed. The town square was littered with debris from collapsed buildings, which Ruby couldn't help but notice as she walked to Dust Till Dawn.

Yet as she walked further down the walkway, Ruby found even more destruction than she had thought. _I mean, we stopped them at the Breach - how'd this much of the town even get wrecked?!_

The day of Breach had been a whirlwind of events… or rather two days' worth of events_. I'd say two since I didn't get any sleep that night. _Ruby looked down and pouted at the culprit, the corgi not noticing the glare of his owner as he kept walking down the sidewalk. Ruby couldn't leave Zwei alone in the room, and since her other teammates were a bit busy, she'd taken the corgi along with her. _Of course, if Zwei hadn't woken up, we wouldn't have found the train._

It had been a crazy fight. Ruby knew she didn't see the worst of it; she'd been with Doctor Oobleck the entire time._ Although… I still had to fight people._

The fact she had fought the White Fang made Ruby feel… uncomfortable. _It's not like I haven't fought against people before! I do have a sparring class…_ However, to Ruby there was a huge difference between sparring or a friendly match with someone and actually _fighting them_ fighting them.

Mindlessly walking into the store, Ruby's mind was still stuck on the train fight. _There are bad guys and good guys, and the White Fang are bad guys. At least that's what I thought._ It had taken Ruby a while to realize something about the White Fang.

_They can't all be bad guys._

Blake complicated things. She broke Ruby's moral paradigm of good guys and bad guys. Blake was decidedly a good person, yet she had been part of the White Fang, who were bad guys, even if she had left. So it stood to reason that there might be others like Blake still in the White Fang. From what Blake had told Ruby, she and others just wanted to stop the discrimination against the Faunus._Stopping discrimination is what good guys do. That would make the White Fang misguided good guys. I don't want to fight good guys._

Team RWBY's first real mission resulted in a considerable amount of the downtown area getting wrecked, and as team leader, Ruby couldn't help but feel responsible for it in some way. If Ruby was being honest with herself, she felt like she had hesitated on the train. _I could of just rushed the front of the train… it's not like I was helping Doctor Oobleck all that much with the mechs._ If Ruby was still being honest with herself, she could even admit she may have just stood there and let Doctor Oobleck do most of the fighting. _Maybe if I had just helped out a bit more we could have stopped the train and Vale wouldn't have gotten wrecked._

It was a thought that left Ruby uncomfortable.

_At least it's over_, Ruby thought as she left the store, _I only need to fight Grimm now, right?_ Ruby knew that it was a lie; she would most definitely be fighting more people in the future. However as she attempted to push the thought to the back of her head, a new thought occurred to Ruby.

_Where's Zwei?_

* * *

_I wonder when the damage will be fixed_, Pyrrha idly thought as she walked through the city of Vale. The city was by no means devastated, but at the epicenter of the Breach a multitude of buildings had been demolished by the efforts to contain the Grimm.

Grimm had breached the city a few days ago, and while they had been fought off, resulting in the capture of the mastermind, Roman Torchwick, the city had suffered significant damage. Not to the people who dwelled in it, thankfully, but the same could not be said for the buildings and structures of Vale. Even as Pyrrha walked through the place, she saw a bakery that had been crushed by something. _Wasn't that from when Nora had slammed a King Taijitu?_

It had been an intense battle, Pyrrha's own team being one of the first responders to join team RWBY. With the arrival of other huntsmen, they had been able to plug the flood of Grimm before the situation had gotten even further out of control. It had been miraculous that team JNPR hadn't yet left for their mission. _If we had, we might not have been able to stop the Grimm…_

Back at Beacon, classes had been disrupted as the most students were out on missions, while those who had headed to the city to help were kept on standby in case of another attack._ To think that the White Fang actually started it…_ In theory, Pyrrha agreed with the White Fang - discrimination was bad, after all - but their methods were horrifying. It was a monstrous thing to help Grimm infiltrate the middle of Vale, a huge population center. Pyrrha had heard that team RWBY had to deal with fighting the White Fang during their own mission to Mountain Glenn.

Pyrrha's thoughts died down as she came to a dead end. _I'm lost aren't I?_

Pyrrha had been heading towards one of the major weapon stores originally, until she found it had been crushed by a Nevermore falling on it. Realizing that she'd have to wait until the next airbus arrived, she had opted to try and find another weapon store. _With the Vytal Tournament, I need be prepared after all._ Looking around, Pyrrha decided to turn around, _maybe I missed something?_

**Bark! Bark! Bark!**

Glancing towards the origin of the noise, Pyrrha saw a small dog nudging the debris from the smashed-up bakery. It may have been the middle of the day, but there were not many people out on the streets, given recent events. Especially no one who looked like they owned him, _does no one own him?_ Curious, Pyrrha walked closer to the small dog. _No, he has a collar._

Approaching carefully, the dog just stared at Pyrrha as she slowly bent down to pet him and see if he had any identification on his collar. The dog just stared at her, panting with its tongue hanging out of its mouth, wagging its nub of a tail as Pyrrha scratched behind his ears. _At least he seems to be friendly_, Pyrrha thought as she looked at the collar.

Zwei.

Pyrrha's brows furrowed as she vocalized her thoughts, "I feel like I've heard that name before…" After a moment of thought, Pyrrha shrugged. "So your name is Zwei?" The dog stopped panting before looking up at her, its head tilting to the right, its floppy ears perking up. Pyrrha couldn't help but smile at the cute action. Adopting the gentlest voice she could do, Pyrrha kept talking at the dog, "Are you lost Zwei?" Zwei's head tilted towards the left.

_He's so small he must be a puppy, how could someone leave a puppy this cute alone?_ Pyrrha looked around again. Still no one was running towards the two. _Maybe he ran away?_ Pyrrha quickly discarded the thought as Zwei continued to stare at her, _no; he is way too obedient to do that right? _Those big eyes continued to stare up at her, while Zwei's little tail wagged back and forth._ Right?_

_What should I do? Should I take him to him the authorities?_ Even though Pyrrha had never had a pet before, she had heard things about the pound. Glancing at the cute puppy, Pyrrha shook her head, _nope nope nope. May by I could start setting up poste-_

"Zweeeeeiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii! Where are you?!"

Pyrrha nearly fell over as the dog in question sped off towards to the familiar voice. Turning to look at where Zwei had darted off to, Pyrrha watched as the small dog jumped into her friend's arms.

"Zwei! Is this where you went?" **Bark! Bark!** Ruby rolled her eyes, "Zwei you know better than to run off b-" Zwei licked Ruby's nose, causing her to giggle, "I can't be mad at you." Then it clicked_, Zwei is that dog that was hanging around team RWBY after the battle._ Truth be told, Pyrrha hadn't seen much of team RWBY since the Breach. "Oh, hi Pyrrha!"

"Hello!" Pyrrha gave a small wave as she walked over to the two. "Is Zwei your dog?"

"Yup!" Ruby nodded as she looked back at Zwei. "He decided to run as off when we left from Dust Till Dawn…" Zwei jumped out of Ruby's arms and plodded over to Pyrrha, before lying down on her feet. "He must have found you." Ruby's head tilted in a quizzical manner, a mannerism that reminded Pyrrha of Zwei, "I didn't know he took such a liking to you… or that you two met even…"

Pyrrha bent down as much as she could as to not disturb the sleeping dog, so she could scratch behind his ears. "I'm afraid that wasn't the case, when I found him he was nudging the door to that building over there." Pyrrha gestured towards the collapsed structure.

Pyrrha watched as Ruby's face went through a number of changes. At first, it was seemingly apathetic as she looked at the sign, then it was full of excitement. However the excitement quickly faded as Ruby's face went blank, a horrified look entering her eyes, as she fell to her knees.

"Not the bakery, NOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooo!" Ruby's arms fell limply to her side, her chin resting on her chest. Zwei, hearing the cry of distress from his master, jumped to his stubby feet, rushed towards Ruby, and began to nuzzle her.

"Um." Pyrrha could only blink as she watched the scene unfold, "I'm sure there is another bakery in Vale." Ruby didn't react to her words. "Or they could rebuild it…?"

That, however, did get a reaction. "Really?!"

Ruby's silver eyes, full of hope, bore into Pyrrha's head. _Can't… say…. No…._ "Of course they will!"

"Yay!" Ruby gave a jump of joy as Pyrrha shook her head. "So whatcha ya up to, anyway?"

"I was trying to figure out where to find an open weapon shop. The one I usually go to had a Nevermore crash land on it." Pyrrha gave an ambivalent shrug. "I don't know Vale very well."

"Hmmm..." Ruby tapped her chin as she thought. "I bet I could find an open shop!" Pyrrha didn't even get a chance to respond, as Ruby grabbed her and sped off, with Zwei following as fast as his stubby legs could carry him after the two huntresses.

* * *

"What do you need from the store?" Ruby asked. The two had been walking in silence for the past few minutes, keeping a walking pace to allow Zwei to keep up with the two.

"Well, let's see…" Pyrrha paused for a moment as she started to tick off fingers, "I need to get a box of .30-06 rounds, I've been meaning to replace my old whetstone, so that's another one, then…" Pyrrha rattled off a few more basic weapon maintenance items.

It was all very basic equipment, nothing like what Ruby usually got. _To be honest, I do get all of my stuff from custom orders… _As much as Ruby knew a ton about weapons, she rarely bought anything directly from weapon shops. More often she would order something through a store rather than buy what they had in stock. _I could just take her to the store I always go to?_ Ruby turned the idea over in her head, _which should work!_

"I think the store I was just at might have what you need… I think." Pyrrha nodded encouragingly at Ruby. With that sorted out, Ruby changed directions going back the way she had originally came, to Dust Till Dawn.

"The place I go to a lot, its called Dust Till Dawn," Ruby started to explain without any prompting. "Usually I just order stuff there, but they probably have what you are looking for in stock."

Pyrrha kept pace, hands clasped in front of her, "How come you don't buy stuff from there, instead of ordering?"

"Well, 'cause I like to have more customization options for Crescent Rose." At the mention of her weapon, Ruby pulled it out, hugging the weapon to her, Ruby cooed. "My sweetheart can only have the best, just like the new scope I bought for you…" Thoughts of how cool the new scope would look on the weapon filled her head as Ruby cradled Crescent Rose in her arms.

**Bark!**

Ruby didn't know how long she stayed like that, absorbed in thoughts of new customization for Crescent Rose, before Zwei's bark pulled her out of it. "Huzha-what?" Looking down at Zwei, the corgi was staring at her, sitting, tongue lolling out. She lifted her gaze up and found Pyrrha,covering her mouth with her hand so that Ruby could still see her eyes. The eyes clearly communicated what the hand was hiding to Ruby - Pyrrha was trying to suppress herself from giggling.

Immediately, Ruby felt very, very embarrassed and pulled the hood of her cape over her head, as if she could physically hide the embarrassment by hiding. "It's not that funny… " Ruby muttered. "I just really like weapons…"

Ruby started to walk briskly away to avoid any further shame, but she stopped as she felt a hand on her shoulder. "I wasn't laughing at you." Pyrrha's tone didn't hold the same mirth that the eyes had held a few seconds ago, "It's just… " Pyrrha stopped as she tried to find the right word. Ruby slowly pulled off her hood, to watch Pyrrha grapple with what she was saying. "…it's cute to see you so excited about something. "

"Oh." Ruby could feel her face redden further, as Pyrrha stared at her with honest eyes. "Um… thanks." It was odd to her for someone to actually compliment Ruby on her devotion to Crescent Rose. _Back at Signal, they'd make fun of me for it… as long as Yang wasn't around._

"You're welcome!" Pyrrha's voice was as cheerful as ever. Ruby didn't trust herself to not embarrass herself again, she stayed quiet, playing with the thought of someone seeing her as a weapons geek as a positive thing. Mulling over her opinions on weapons, an old thought reemerged. Ruby felt the feeling of uncomfortableness and perhaps a twinge of guilt emerge as her mind became stuck on Breach.

The feeling built as Ruby tried to think of a way to stop it. _Maybe if I talked to someone about it, it'd help? That's what Yang always says about problems, talking about them helps._

"You fight people a lot, right, Pyrrha?"

Pyrrha cocked her head, "I suppose I do, but you do as well."

"Yeah, but, like, other people." Pyrrha continued to stare blankly at her, making it abundantly clear that Ruby wasn't explaining herself very well. "People you don't know…?"

"Do you mean fighting outside of sparring?"

Ruby snapped her fingers. "Yeah! That! You do that, right?"

Pyrrha tapped her chin as she thought for a moment. "I did fight a lot of people in the Mistral tournaments." Pyrrha's curious gaze focused on Ruby. "Why do you ask?"

Ruby had something on her mind that was for sure. She had fought the White Fang a few times - _heck, they even captured me!_ As bad as the capturing had been, that wasn't what plagued Ruby. It was the fighting people_. Actual people._

"Y'know how my team was on the train… the one that caused this?" Ruby gestured to a collapsed building. Pyrrha nodded in silence. "Well, we had to fight the White Fang on the train…" Ruby trailed off into silence. "I thought it'd be fine, that they are the bad guys. We are huntresses, so we fight monsters and bad guys, right?"

"That is part of the job description, correct."

Ruby stayed silent for a few more seconds before continuing, "But they can't all be bad guys, right?" Pyrrha gestured for her to continue. "Like Blake was part of the White Fang, and she is a good person…" Ruby paused again as she tried to find a way to put thoughts into words. "Everyone is good inside, deep down inside, that's what I believe in…" It was hard to pinpoint what she was trying to say. "Like, y'know when we spar, we know each other, we see each other on a daily basis, right? Fighting the White Fang isn't like sparring; this isn't a match someone can just walk away from."

Ruby waited for Pyrrha to say something. She knew she was being unclear, _but maybe Pyrrha knows what I am talking about? _"Are you scared of fighting other people?"

"Yes! No! Maybe!" Words were not serving Ruby well today, "It's different from fighting a Grimm. A Grimm just wants to kill you because that's all they can do. A person fights you because they decided they want to kill you when they have some other choice." Taking a breath, Ruby continued. "They are bad guys, I know! It's just… Blake was one once, so what happens if I screw up and actually kill someone? What happens if that person was a good person?" Ruby's voice started to trail off, "What happens if they're all good people? I don't wanna fight good people…"

Pyrrha waited for Ruby to continue. When it became apparent that Ruby wasn't going to, Pyrrha started to speak in a slow, almost hesitant tone. "I don't think I can answer it." Ruby hung her head downwards. "I don't think anyone can." The hesitant tone left Pyrrha as she continued, her voice gaining a confident quality. "But I think you did the right thing."

"If your team hadn't fought them, who knows what could have happened?" Pyrrha put a hand on Ruby's shoulder. "If you and your team hadn't found them in Mountain Glenn, hadn't been on the train, there would have been no one at the site, no one to stop the Grimm from killing people."

"But I still didn't stop them from breaking into the city…" Ruby replied in a quiet tone.

Pyrrha just shook her head. "You did the best you could_." It wasn't good enough, or the city wouldn't be half destroyed_ Ruby thought glumly. Apparently, her face betrayed her thoughts, as Pyrrha continued, "The Grimm may have entered the city, but no one died."

"A lot of people still got hurt!" Ruby trembled at the thought of people dying due to her. "If I had been able to stop the train, the city wouldn't have gotten wrecked." Ruby's voice felt small, even to herself, as she add. "No one would have gotten hurt."

"Ruby." Pyrrha's hands rested on both of Ruby's shoulders, as the taller girl stood directly in front of her, forcing Ruby to actually look at her. "Buildings can be fixed. People can heal. Thanks to you, Torchwick is behind bars and no one died. Think of how many people would have died if your team hadn't been there to fight the Grimm from the start."

Ruby didn't speak as Pyrrha continued to give her a comforting shoulder grip, making it clear she was waiting for a response. _Even if Pyrrha is right, I could have done something else, I could have stopped it, it was my team's mission to stop it and we failed…_ "We still didn't stop the train…"

Pyrrha pursed her lips for a moment. "Doctor Oobleck was there, right?" Ruby nodded. "If he, a trained huntsmen who trains hunters, couldn't stop it, I think you did the best you could." Pyrrha's eyebrows furrowed as Ruby stayed quiet. "You did a great job with what you had, so why do you doubt yourself?"

_Why do I doubt myself? Is that what this is? Doubt?_ "Because _I_ was the team leader, and we failed the mission!" Ruby felt like yelling, although Pyrrha didn't seem to be phased by it, just keeping steady eyes on Ruby. "A lot of people got hurt, Vale got wrecked, and I fought people I don't even think are bad people!" Ruby could feel the tears go down her cheeks. "If you guys hadn't been there, people could have died…"

"But no one _did_ die." Pyrrha sighed softly. "You did a great job, you may not have stopped the train, but you did the next best thing and made sure the Grimm didn't break out into the rest of the city." Slowly, Ruby felt Pyrrha's hands pull her closer, the comforting weight on her shoulders shifting into a hesitant, tentative hug. "You did a splendid job, don't doubt yourself."

Ruby numbly hugged back as she replayed what Pyrrha had said, _she's right. No one died, and the Grimm were stopped._ The flash of the destroyed buildings went through Ruby's head_. But those can be rebuilt. Buildings can be rebuilt. _There was just no way in which Ruby could see that Pyrrha was wrong as she turned the older girl's words over and over in her head.

_I guess I did do my best._

"You're right." Ruby finally muttered, as she stayed in the embrace of the taller girl. "You're right, no one died." Pulling out the hug, Ruby gave her a small smile. "Thanks Pyrrha, I needed that."

Pyrrha beamed. "It was no problem." Pyrrha gave a glance around, "Where did Zwei go?" Ruby's eyes widened as she couldn't find her dog at all.

**Bark!**

Pivoting towards the noise, Ruby watched as Zwei plodded towards her, holding something in his mout- _wait is that…cookie_s!? Zwei stopped before placing a box of cookies down.

_Snerk_

To Ruby, Pyrrha was trying to suppress a giggle, and she was managing it. Barely. "I think Zwei was trying to cheer you up too." Pyrrha tilted her head. "Maybe that's why he went to the bakery?" Ruby couldn't respond as she stared dumbstruck at the box, _when did Zwei learn like the most useful trick ever?!_

"Hey! Get back here!" A wizened elderly shopkeeper hobbled towards. "You need to pay for those!"

Ruby sighed, _so much for free cookies_. Yet Ruby didn't feel like she needed cookies to cheer up now, _not that I would say no to free cookies!_ But rather, Ruby felt better after talking with someone, with Pyrrha. Giving Pyrrha a glance as Ruby fished for some lien to pay for the cookies, Ruby had a new thought.

_It's good to have Pyrrha around._

* * *

Editor: ASouthernRussian

* * *

AU: In my head the scene after team CFVY annihilated the Grimm and Goodwitch fixed the Breach, the scene where team RWBYZ is hanging out on the platform takes place a few weeks later. At least ten days. This chapter takes place in the middle of the episode 12, vol 2 'Breach'.

Ruby is doubting herself as a leader, because ultimately if she had done her job properly, none of Breach would of occurred. Its not that she inherently screwed up, but Ruby thinks she could of done far better. There is some basis for Ruby having the moral questions that she does in the chapter. Ruby without a doubt sees the world in the most black and white lighting compared to her teammates. Pre-No Brakes, Ruby never fought the White Fang post-Black and White. Heck she never even fought them straight up. The only two people she fought, from her perspective, was some masked lady, and one of the most notorious criminals, Roman Torchwick.

Okay. I'm sorry. I did change one other bit of canon. When Nora nails the grimm in the head at the 3:26 mark of Ep 12, Breach, it slams into the ground. In this version it slammed into the bakery that Ruby mentioned in the same episode. Ruby's bakery freak out was literally me trying to replicate a scene from The Two Towers, except instead of hobbits, its baked goods.

So I don't know how obvious this is, but the reason Zwei suddenly disappears is because he is like "Ruby-friend is sad now, OH NOES! I must find poison-bread! She really likes the poison-bread!" ….'cause y'know chocolate is poisonous to dogs. Basically Zwei was trying to find cookies to bring to her but the only smell of cookies he could find, or the closest led to the destroyed bakery.

To that guest reviewer…

Do you see all that dialogue? Does this not please you? ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?!

**ALL THAT BEING SAID**, here we go to to me talking about stuff right before I publish this chapter. I'm not gonna lie, this thing was literally the hardest thing to write. Heck, the original concept for this chapter didn't take place outside or involve Pyrrha. Or Zwei. The first scene was actually the last bit of it that was written, and I do fear that the logical progression of Ruby's mental freakout/doubt might perhaps be horribly flawed given I didn't create this chapter in a linear manner. In fact this chapter was written over the course of five days, which is insanely long for me. Most of these chapters are done either in one go or two sessions. I started this chapter on friday, but didn't finish it until Tuesday.

In the end did it make sense or come off as incoherent jumble?

Thanks for taking the time to read this, especially if you forced yourself through the author's note! Until next time (which will probably be a week), have a great day/week/preferred unit of time!


	11. Chapter 11: Fame

**Chapter Eleven: Fame**

* * *

Pyrrha finished tightening up the leather straps that held her cuisses as she sat in the locker room. _It'll just be a little bit longer… _All that was left to do was to check her armour and weapons - something Pyrrha had already done five times. It wasn't that Pyrrha was nervous; no, the situation was a familiar one to her. What she was about to undertake was not a new event by any means, and it was not the reason why she was fidgeting with armour as she sat there in that empty room. No, it was the waiting.

Waiting.

Waiting for her, Pyrrha Nikos, to be called forth from the locker room. For the Invincible Girl herself to be summoned to fight. For the record-breaking tournament fighter to enter the international Vytal tournament and trounce her opponent. After all, during the first few rounds of the tournament, there was a low chance Pyrrha would be squared off against a strong opponent.

The first round of the Vytal Tournament had been just about what Pyrrha had expected…

* * *

**"Begin!"**

Time slowed for Pyrrha as the unfamiliar voice boomed throughout the arena, as the referee's voice boomed through the arena's loudspeakers. This was Pyrrha's element; the arena was where she excelled beyond compare, better even than her fights against Grimm. That wasn't without a reason, either. Despite all of the help, all of the advantage that Pyrrha's semblance afforded her, she couldn't help but feel like she was a bit too dependent on it. However, these thoughts faded as Pyrrha focused on the opponent.

Cardin Winchester stood opposite of her, mace held tightly in his grip_. If I remember correctly, he will charge in with an overhead smash._ Yet he merely stood there, tense as could be. _A different approach from the last time is needed, it seems._

Deciding to take the initiative, Pyrrha came at him running full tilt, both arms outstretched. Cardin started to strafe left, his mace held in a two-handed grip in front of him. The distance closed between the two, and Cardin took the first swing. Pyrrha didn't let it get close.

Slamming her shield into her opponent's mace, Pyrrha followed up with several tight swings from Milo as Cardin's mace reeled backwards. The mace was unable to defend the boy from Pyrrha's xiphos as it cut rapid slashes down his chest, each one lowering Cardin's aura bar by fat chunks. Before he could bring his mace back in front of him, Pyrrha jumped, bringing her knee forward.

_**CRACK!**_

Cardin's form limply fell backwards as Pyrrha's knee struck his chin, the force of it producing a unsettling noise audible even over the din of the crowd. Pyrrha waited for a few moments; _did I break through his aura?_ She knew better than to look away from her opponent to check, regardless if he was currently clutching his head as he lay on the ground, unarmed; rather, Pyrrha relied on the sound of the finished match tone, a loud and angry buzz that could be heard from anywhere in the stadium.

**BUZZZZZZ!**

Pyrrha felt the tension slip from her, as the fight ended. _Truthfully, not that hard of a match to fight. It really wasn't, not when you considering I can take on their entire team and win._

Glancing towards the audience, she noticed that while a healthy portion of the people gathered were students, the massive, overwhelming number of them were normal folks, coming from Vale and other kingdoms, here to enjoy the festivities and the games. Unfortunately, the majority of them did not hold looks of interest, but disinterest. _They seem to be… bored?_

* * *

_That was the way tournaments like this worked after all,_ Pyrrha sighed, _you don't get two strong fighters against each other until the later matches… of course the audience is bored._

Pyrrha found herself still in the locker room, waiting.

Waiting was something that Pyrrha was never particularly good at it. _Then again how is one supposed to be good at waiting?_ Pyrrha thought with a sarcastic tone. _You can't train yourself to be more patient._

The first tournament she had been in, the Mistral Regional, the waiting made her worry. Worry about how much she'd embarrass herself in the coming matches. Worry about getting her face beat in by her opponent. By the second tournament, waiting had taken on a new meaning. There was still the apprehension of fighting a tough opponent, but at that point her fear was of not living up to her previous win. Third time around, the apprehension of physically getting harmed was gone, replaced entirely by a constant dread of not being able to hold up her previous victories. The fourth Mistral Regional tournament Pyrrha had fought in, during waiting she was no longer worrying about being able to uphold her title, but rather just why she was nervous about upholding it. Why she almost wanted to see if she didn't uphold the title.

Deep down inside, Pyrrha couldn't but wonder what would happen if she hadn't upheld her title all those times. _Perhaps I would be less famous? I wouldn't be the Invincible Girl anymore._ Pyrrha toyed with the thought_; I would have had to take a dive to lose, no one would 'let me' win. _She shook her head. _That'd be against the rules_. Nevertheless, the idea of being less famous was a… intriguing one.

It hadn't taken long for Pyrrha to end up fighting someone she knew and, if she could be so bold, considered a little bit of a friend. _Although, _Pyrrha thought with no small amount of sadness_, I don't think he'd ever think of me as a friend anymore…_

The look Sun had given Pyrrha after their match burned into her eyes. It was a look she had seen in many of her opponents after she had beaten them. At first, she thought of the look as that of surprise. The widened eyes, the open mouth with a slight tremble was a expression Pyrrha had assumed was a surprised one.

But from her limited interactions with Sun, Pyrrha knew that wasn't what he looked like when he was surprised, no. In fact, Sun looked horrified. Honestly, Pyrrha couldn't blame him; _I did hit him when he was down, no matter how you look at it…_

* * *

Pyrrha dove underneath the whirling staff, bringing Akouo in a backhand shield slam. The blow was stopped by Sun's staff shunting off the force of it. The two combatants backed off to catch their breath.

It had been a back and forth game, with no one gaining any real edge over the other. Sun was fighting well, using the staff to keep her from simply overpowering him with both Akouo and Milo. At the same time, Sun hadn't been able to put Pyrrha on the defensive in any way, merely holding his ground. A few strikes had to be altered by Pyrrha's semblance, but they were nothing major. Nothing that Pyrrha couldn't handle.

_Something needs to change. _Shifting Milo into its spear form, Pyrrha slowly started to approach him, Sun mirroring her approach. Just before they hit contact, Pyrrha twirled Milo into a javelin grip and chucked it at Sun, the sound of the gun component of Milo suddenly ringing through the stadium as it hurtled at the Faunus.

Even as Sun went to duck underneath it, Pyrrha altered the course of the javelin. Pyrrha's aim was not for Sun directly but rather his rather loose shirt, the tip of Milo shredding through it before the wide shaft caught enough of his shirt to make the Faunus lose balance. Before Sun could hit the ground Pyrrha closed the small gap in a leap, landing knee first onto his unprotected stomach.

**THUMP!**

The sound of the two combatants hitting the arena floor echoed in the stadium. Not giving a Sun a chance to recover, Pyrrha brought her shield arm down on his chest, Akouo bouncing off as his aura flared around to protect the downed faunus. Again, Pyrrha brought her shield down, the rim of it painfully slamming into Sun's chest. A third time her arm descended, before halting, the end of the match buzzer blaring throughout the stadium.

Stepping off Sun, Akouo no longer blocked his face Pyrrha could see it. Sun stared at her with wide eyes, and mouth agape. Pyrrha could faintly hear over the crowd's dim, Sun's staff banging against the ground as his arms trembled. That sound was muted by the roar of the loudspeaker.

"Pyrrha Nikos, The Invincible girl wins again! Will she be able to add another tournament to her already legendary streak? It looks like the Invincible Girl is on her way to it!"

* * *

No one could deny that Pyrrha Nikos was famous.

Whether it was from her string of record-breaking victories in the tournament circuit, the fact that she was a valedictorian of Sanctum, or just simply that Pyrrha's face was on a major cereal brand, it was a undeniable fact: Pyrrha Nikos was famous.

When Sun had entered the arena, he received little fanfare, a foreign Faunus with a non-existent tournament record. There was barely a change in the audience's sounds. But when Pyrrha Nikos entered, the audience erupted into a cacophony of noise, cheering her on.

It was more than a little sickening to her to see Sun get such little applause. Perhaps what was more sickening was her next opponent.

Lie Ren.

Out of team JNPR, he was the only other member still in the running at this point. For someone without a tournament record, it was impressive that he made it this far, to say the least, or so that was what Pyrrha had heard. It would seem that Ren's luck had run out, though, as he was set to fight Pyrrha Nikos.

If Pyrrha was being completely honest with herself, she had been debating taking a fall. She had been contemplating whether she should fight against her friends or not since the beginning of the tournament. Jaune hadn't been put in the same bracket as Pyrrha, nor had Nora or anyone from team RWBY. Pyrrha didn't think one of her friends were going to rise to the top of their bracket.

_Am I scared of hurting them… of hurting Ren?_

It was a legitimate question to Pyrrha; she didn't want to have her opponent be someone she knew, one of her friends. Pyrrha had fought her teammates and team RWBY before; after all they had the same sparring class. But in the sparring room, Pyrrha was Pyrrha Nikos not Pyrrha "Invincible Girl" Nikos. If she was truthful, Pyrrha felt like fighting in the arena changed her, made her more brutal. More willing to hurt someone to live up to her fame, to keep her streak of victories.

As much as Pyrrha was scared of hurting one of her friends, she was even more terrified of them seeing who the Invincible Girl really was, seeing the brutal extremes to which she'd go to take down her opponent. Not just having them see Pyrrha as some kind of personified form of a champion but as the creature would win at all costs, an ugly creature, a creature who wanted to feed off the distant praise and support the audience gave her.

Sun had already seen that side of the Invincible Girl, and the look he gave clearly told Pyrrha what he thought.

_He was horrified of it._

A small nugget of a line flashed into Pyrrha's head, something that she had heard Ruby say earlier, when the girl had noticed Pyrrha's distress;

* * *

Even though classes had been cancelled due to the week-long festival, Pyrrha found herself in the library studying. Well, more accurately, helping Ruby study. It had been more than a month, almost two, since she had started to help the team leader with schoolwork. Today it was math. Given how much time Ruby put into working on Crescent Rose, she was surprisingly bad at numbers, Pyrrha noted.

"Are you excited for the final round?"

The question took Pyrrha by surprise. "A little, perhaps."

"Aww, how come only a little?" Ruby seemed upset._ Is it because she wanted to make it this far instead of me?_

"I'll have to fight Ren, that's why." Pyrrha stated matter-of-factly.

Ruby tilted her head. "So? I had to fight Yang and I still had fun…" _That's right…_ Pyrrha hadn't seen the match, only a recording of it after it finished seeing as she was set to fight in the next match.

With Pyrrha not responding, Ruby continued. "I mean, it's just like sparring right?" Pyrrha gave a noncommittal shrug. "Except with prizes if you win!" Once more Pyrrha gave a slight shrug causing Ruby to give Pyrrha a funny look. "I thought you liked sparring…?"

The taller girl let out a sigh. "I do, it's just…it's just different." Tapping the table in annoyance as she tried to think of a better way to explain it, Pyrrha tried a different approach. "When sparring, you can win or lose, and either is fine, right?" Ruby gave a nod. "But if I lose, I let other people down. It's not fun anymore, but I have to do it. I _should_ do it."

Pyrrha's eyes were drawn to the math assignment laid in front of them. "It used to be fun, to fight in tournaments. Now it's anything but that. It's a job." Pyrrha's shoulders slumped. ""it's... it's just what I do now."

Ruby was quiet as Pyrrha waited for a response.

"You should just be yourself and have fun!"

* * *

The idea of having fun in the tournament matches was… different. It felt like an alien concept, one to which Pyrrha had not considered in a long time. _Tournaments are about winning, are they not? One does not go to a tournament to have fun, they go there to win._ Pyrrha's brow furrowed. _Why did start to go to tournaments anyways?_

It'd been a long time since Pyrrha had considered them anything other than an obligation; after the first tournament, she had been personally invited to compete in each one. _So why did I compete in the first one?_

As much as Pyrrha wracked her brain, she couldn't remember the reason. Instead, the other half of Ruby's advice popped into her mind.

_Just be myself?_

Pyrrha couldn't help but snort at that phrase_. Just be myself? That was a novel notion. I am anything but myself when I fight. _Sun's face flashed back into Pyrrha's mind. _Unless that means I'm some kind of horrifying monster. _However, that raised a question in Pyrrha's head.

_Just who am I?_

It was a surprisingly valid question; _am I Pyrrha Nikos, partner to Jaune Arc, member of team JNPR or am I the Invincible Girl, Pyrrha Nikos, the breaker of tournament records?_

The short answer, of course, was that Pyrrha was both of them. No matter how Pyrrha turned it in her head, she was both of those. _Maybe it'd be more accurate to say they are both components of me? On the other hand… I didn't use to be the Invincible Girl, but I've always been Pyrrha._ Pyrrha's eyes widened as she continued down that line of thought.

_Does that mean I am becoming the Invincible Girl?_

The sound of footsteps jolted Pyrrha from her thoughts, a very official man with a pass marked "Security" walked in and motioned to her.

The wait was over.

* * *

As Pyrrha stood in the entryway, she could hear the crowd. _No that's, not accurate, more like I can feel them._ The din of the thousands of people rumbled in the circular stadium above her as Pyrrha made her way to the arena itself. Even the magnified voice of the announcer shook the the walls of the arena.

"Ladies and Gentlemen!" A pause as the crowd's chatter dimmed slightly. "It is my honour to present the finalists for the Vytal Tournament's First Year combatants! Please welcome Mr. Lie Ren aaaaand…. Miss Pyrrha Nikos!"

A smattering amount of applause for Ren before an overwhelming roar of cheering erupted in the audience when Pyrrha herself was announced. The official spoke to Pyrrha, words drowned out by the clammer, before gesturing her to the entrance. It was time.

Walking out into the arena, bright light filled Pyrrha's vision as the spotlights and the flashes of cameras going off all turned toward her. Blinded as she was from the flood of light, she still knew where she needed to go, striding forward. No longer muffled by the concrete tunnel, sounds became distinct. Almost overwhelming support for her, aside from the literal loudest voice ringing out in the crowd. _I don't think Nora can even make pancakes let alone that many… we'll find out if I lose…_

Giving small waves to the crowd on either side, Pyrrha stopped at the appointed spot and waited as the announcer went on and on about the fighters. Something Pyrrha was well-versed in tuning out, not only tuning out the announcer's pre-match spiel but the crowd, so she could focus. Except there was one thing she couldn't drown out.

_You should just be yourself and have fun!_

_How am I supposed to have fun? I'm supposed to win! _She eyed the unreadable mask that was her opponent's face. _How am I supposed to be myself and fight my own teammate? _The thought was absurd;_ I don't want to fight Ren as the Invincible Girl, I doubt he'd even consider me a friend afterwards._

**"Begin!"**

The word echoed through the stadium, the crowd going silent, their breath held in anticipation. Yet for Pyrrha, the norm did not happen. Her usual singular focus was not there; something was disrupting Pyrrha's focus. Instead of time slowing to a crawl, it sped up as Ren approached her. Bullets spewed from StormFlower at Pyrrha, causing her to brace Akouo against her shoulder. Mecha-shifting Milo into its rifle form, Pyrrha started to fire rapidly at Ren as the distance closed. The gunfire ended, as a flurry of blows erupted from Ren as he closed into range with Pyrrha.

StormFlower became green streaks in Pyrrha's vision as Ren's arms turned into blurs, the blades from the handguns ricocheting off Akouo while Pyrrha tried to find an opening to strike back with Milo. Ren started to circle around Pyrrha, trying to find some opening for his weapons to hit.

The silence that usually fell over the crowd broke into small whisperings as Pyrrha turtled, staying defensive. Ren made probing attacks and feints,since Pyrrha gave little in the way of counter attacks. Milo occasionally peeping out from behind to the shield, only for Ren to dodge it. _If I start to go all out, I won't be Pyrrha Nikos anymore… I'll be the Invincible Girl. I won't be myself. _Pyrrha was being pushed back as the fight dragged on, holding up Akouo to stave off Ren's attacks.

_I can't just stand here taking hits, I need to do something!_ Pyrrha shifted Milo into its spear form and jabbed from above Akouo. Ren took it in stride, sidestepping before swiping at it with StormFlower. Milo bounced backwards, almost leaving Pyrrha's grip until she used her semblance to settle into her hand. This time, she brought it in for a sweep. Ren jumped over the sweep, going over Pyrrha's head, firing StormFlower as Akouo tracked him. Ren landed before backing away, the melee reached a brief respite amidst the whispers in the crowd of the 'Invincible Girl on the run.'

_Just what exactly is the Invincible Girl?_ In all of her fear of it, Pyrrha had never just stopped to define who or rather exactly it was. The simple answer was it was a moniker given to Pyrrha after a string of unbroken defeats, how she seemed to be Invincible. In truth, Pyrrha had a massive advantage in tournament fights, given that everyone wore metal and, after all, polarity was her semblance. It came from her unerring ability of hers to never lose.

Yet during one of her earlier tournaments, it had taken on a new connotation; the new celebrity quality Pyrrha had achieved. It symbolized how she was different from the rest of her classmates at Sanctum. To others, being the Invincible Girl was an honor, an amazing achievement in record breaking, but to Pyrrha, it was a stigma, a mark of how she was outside the rest, why she couldn't keep her old friends.

It was why when the third and fourth Mistral Regional tournaments rolled around, all that Pyrrha had left was her fame, and it was something that had never left her. Something she'd lose if Pyrrha lost against Ren.

"You don't _have_ to hold back just because we are teammates"

His was a very quiet voice - Pyrrha could barely distinguish from the crowd - but the tone of it was clear, standing in stark contrast to his normal calm voice. Ren sounded upset.

"Why would I be holding back?!" Ren stared at her, not showing a hint of believing her. "I'm not holding back!"

"Yes you are."

The words cut into Pyrrha. _But I'm not! If I hold back, I lose the one thing that has never left me… I'll lose my fame._

This time taking the initiative, Pyrrha sprinted towards Ren, pulling back her left arm before flinging Akouo at Ren. The spinning disc narrowly missed Ren as the hunter ducked under it. Milo lashed out at Ren, and the spear whistled by as it went in a downward diagonal line. Ren's dodge was not fast enough, and the gold-red spear clipped Ren, pushing him to the left. Ren went with the motion, turning it into a roll, firing StormFlower at Pyrrha.

Without the protection of Akouo, Pyrrha dove out of the way, bullets bouncing off her aura as she altered Akouo's return path, not to herself but directly at the source of the gunfire. Akouo slammed into Ren's unprotected side, the metal disc's edge cutting into his aura before returning to Pyrrha. Ren sprang backwards, backpedaling, the fight turning into a running gunfight.

The old focus of the matches came back to Pyrrha as time started to slow, as she started to become more and more aggressive_. I can't lose, I won't have even my fame left!_ Pyrrha started to push Ren back towards the center of the arena. The whispering in the crowd dimming as she pushed and pushed him further and further back, resolute in not losing the one thing that never abandoned her; her fame. Even when her friends had become fans, when they had put her on a pedestal, the Invincible Girl was always there to welcome her.

Even at Beacon, when Pyrrha had befriended Jaune, he too eventually pushed her aside, not for her fame but for another. _Another rejection. I might have a team, but Ren and Nora always have each other, Jaune has Velvet, so who do I have? No one that's who!_

Pyrrha's attack faltered for a moment as she noticed a familiar red themed figure waving, yelling her name in the crowd, _no that's not right, I do have a friend. I have Ruby._

Ren took the break in attack to wheel around, charging directly towards Pyrrha. Milo and Akouo clashed with StormFlower as Ren's quick strikes put Pyrrha on the defensive again. Ren started to push her back until they were both in the center of the arena.

Flashes of the time Pyrrha and Ruby had spent since Velvet and Jaune had gotten together started to filter through Pyrrha's head as she traded blows with Ren. The night when the younger girl hugged Pyrrha as she cried in the training room. _Ruby has been there for me when I needed it_. The times Ruby had dragged Pyrrha off to play video games or sent doodles at her in class. _She tried to cheer me up when I was down_. Or served as a sparring partner when Pyrrha needed to let out some tension.

Ruby had been there for Pyrrha when she needed someone, especially when Pyrrha didn't ask for anyone. A new question emerged in Pyrrha's head as she traded blows with Ren.

_Why does Ruby help me?_ Pyrrha mulled over it. _It's not like we are partners or even on the same team; in fact, she is more friends with Jaune if anything… is it because she is just that nice to me? Or is Ruby a fan?_ Pyrrha paled at the thought before trying her hardest to banish it from her mind. _No, no, no, Ruby isn't a fan. If she was, I doubt someone as… excitable as her would be able to control herself_. Pyrrha had dealt with people before who were fans, they had a tendency to continuously bring up her records, to bring up the Invincible Girl.

The exchange of blows came to an end as Pyrrha feinted with Milo, Ren going for a dodge ended up getting slammed instead by Akouo. Ren's weapons went flying leaving him unarmed in the face of a fully armed Pyrrha. Going in for the win, jabbed at Ren with Milo only to meet resistance. Purple aura pooled in his hands as Pyrrha pushed hard at it.

_No, Ruby just treats me like she treats everyone else, sort of how Jaune is… how the rest of team JNPR is._ Pyrrha gave a small smile, _she really doesn't care about my fame, and the fact that she told me to have fun instead of win should be evidence enough._

A contest of Pyrrha's aura versus Ren's aura started; Pyrrha's adding semblance adding power into Milo's thrust while Ren's halted its progress. Straining against Ren, Pyrrha's vision started to become murky as sweat fell into her eyes from her brow.

_Why should I win?_ Pyrrha contemplated as she stared into Ren's eyes. _Because I am the Invincible Girl and its my duty or something?_ Pyrrha shook her head at the thought. _I'm not just solely that, so what else is there?_The answer came to Pyrrha; _Ruby_. She knew Ruby was cheering for her in the stands._ I should do it for Ruby_. With renewed vigor, Pyrrha pushed forward on Milo.

Finally someone started to falter, Ren was pushed back, further and further as the purple light flickered before it went out. Without Ren's aura to stop her, Pyrrha shot forward, Milo cutting through the last of Ren's aura.

**BUZZZZZ!**

Pyrrha had won. Yet what had made her victory all the better was a realization.

_Ruby really just sees me for me doesn't she?_

* * *

It had taken a while before Pyrrha could finally take her leave from the throng of reporters and fans who wanted to congratulate her on the victory. They had flocked to her after the match, but as the day had wore on and slowly became night, the cultural festival in the city started to draw them away. In fact, Pyrrha wanted to go to it as well, but first she needed to find someone - Ruby.

Pyrrha figured that the girl might be with her own team at the festival by now; after all, the tournament had ended hours ago, so why would she stick around the stadium? As such, Pyrrha was pleasantly surprised when she ran into Ruby in the hall leaving the arena. However, she had _literally_ ran into Ruby, knocking the smaller girl down.

"Sorry!" Pyrrha started to reach down to help Ruby up.

"It's okay! I'm fine." Ruby took the hand, pulling herself up from the ground. Ruby's eyes focused on Pyrrha after a moment. "Oh! Hiya, Pyrrha!"

"Hello!" Pyrrha gave a cheerful wave.

"That was really, really cool when you and Ren were fighting over Milo!" Ruby blurted out. "Like, you broke through Ren's aura! You've got to be super strong to do that!" Ruby's head tilted. "I thought you'd be celebrating at the festival already?"

"Ah. Well, I had fans come up to me and they held me up for a bit…" Pyrrha looked around, _there doesn't seem to be anyone else from our teams here._ "Where is everyone else?"

Ruby scratched her head. "I think they headed back to Beacon before the festival? I think? I was kind of excited to see my uncle Qrow…" Pyrrha gave a nod to continue. "I got to show off the new upgrades to Crescent Rose to him in one of the Stadium's practice rooms." Ruby had a giant goofy smile plastered on her face. "It was awesome!"

"That sounds grand! Is he still here?"

Ruby shook her head. "Nope, he had to get back to Signal..." Ruby looked around, before looking back at Pyrrha. "What time is it? I forgot my scroll and I can't find a clock anywhere…"

"Oh!" Pyrrha pulled out her scroll. "It's… 7:42pm."

The goofy grin that Ruby was sporting dropped, morphing into a panicked expression. "Crap! The weapon show started ten minutes ago!" A trail of rose petals appeared leading to another corridor as Ruby disappeared.

Pyrrha's smile faded as the rose petals did_. I was hoping we could go together or something_, Pyrrha's shoulder slumped_, this is going to be just like the last tournament too, isn't it?_

"Hey!" Ruby's head popped out from around the corner the rose petals had led to. "Wanna come?" Pyrrha blinked in surprise. Ruby seemed to take her expression as a no given how she looked rather crestfallen at the lack of immediate response. "If you don't want to come, that's fine… I bet your team is planning some kind of part- eep!"

Pyrrha didn't even let her finish before taking Ruby's hand into her own and running towards the stadium's exit, a cheeky smile gracing her face.

"I think it's this way!"

* * *

Editor: ASouthernRussian

* * *

AU: This chapter... it actively caused me to become insane. I was going to try and post this on thursday of last week but that didn't happen. Nope. I've had to deal with a computer that died for a few days, then my monitor died once I fixed it. I also got suspended from work so that's fun. Wheee.

I ended up writing most of this chapter on a tablet, which probably caused me to be sloppier then usual. I feel really bad for ASouthernRussian, the editor given what he has had to put up with this chapter. Editing it became almost its own story in my mind. (Side note: He was emotionally comprised yesterday by Auburn and I think he literally squeee'd with the ending of this chapter. All dat emotions). Probably the craziest thing was last chapter... when I posted it I lost 30 to 40 followers in a 72 hour period. This leaves me wondering if I did something bad last chapter? I would really like to know.

Combat writing was also hard. Especially since in the original draft the combat was incredibly abstracted out. I hope its at least interesting for you guys and gals.

Sorry to Averhan, I haven't even started the Skyros chapter I thought I'd put out this week.

I know that this is going slow, as many reviews have told me, but the reason is unlike other ships, I have to actually establish both Pyrrha and Ruby as spending time together and deal with the canon ship of Arkos. You can see in this chapter the beginnings of the ship now that I've dealt with the other stuff. At least I hope it seems that way.

Please, please tell me what you think; if you don't like, I would love to know why. Seriously, feedback even if negative is always appreciated.

Have a great day and thanks for reading the chapter and author's note!

Response to anon reviewers;

1st Anon review: Sheamus? Who? I was going for Gladiator reference mate XD

2nd Anon review: I love you too whoever you are and I do plan on writing more Pyrruby. I have very long term plans for this fic:P

3rd Anon review: Its sir, and you may keep yelling in your reviews, I don't mind one bit good sir or madam. Yeah, I know that feeling. Its why I decided "I love this ship but no one writes for it. Guess I should do it!" This is going to end with my second favourite ship having a story at some point to. At least some people write a few one-shots for Pyrruby but no one writes Weiss/Nora sadly.

I think I responded to everyone's reviews? If I didn't say so and I'll start to keep a checklist to be even more thorough.


	12. Chapter 12: Festivities

Chapter Twelve: Festivities

* * *

Pyrrha started to have regrets as she and Ruby climbed higher up the stairs. _Maybe this isn't the best idea… then again, every time I've thought that today, Ruby proved me wrong._

It was true; Ruby had consistently proven Pyrrha wrong. That wasn't to say Pyrrha was distraught in any way; in fact, she was discovering it was quite nice to be wrong. Yet as Pyrrha got a better vantage point to view the festival, she couldn't help but think a singular thought:

_I am going to die._

Pyrrha sighed. _The day had been going so well too._

* * *

After going to a rather interesting display of new weapons - even if the two redheads had been late - Ruby had zipped off into a myriad of winding, twisting row upon row of arcade games. Pyrrha could barely keep up with the excited girl.

When Ruby finally stopped, Pyrrha found herself at a shooting gallery. A row of toy guns lined the counter, with targets in the back of the gallery and a collection of stuffed animals on the walls.

"I challenge you to a shoot off!" Ruby declared loudly, pointing at Pyrrha. "Best out of five!"

Pyrrha gave a smile. "Well that sounds grand!" _We fire guns every day, surely it mustn't be too hard._

The acne-covered teen who ran the stand started to count down for them. "3, 2, 1. Go." The sound of cork bullets filled the air for a brief moment as the two huntresses-in-training fired off the toy guns.

...only for each cork bullet to miss hitting anything. _That was odd._ Pyrrha looked down at the toy gun in her hand. _I should be as accurate with this as I am with Milo._

"What was that?!" Ruby was staring at her gun in horror before giving the kid running the game a dissatisfied look. "We couldn't hit anything!"

The kid shrugged. "You can always try again?" He suggested helpfully.

"Nuh-uh!" Ruby shook her head. "Your guns are junk."

"Hey now." The guy running the shooting gallery held up his hands defensively. "Maybe you just can't shoot very well?"

"I can't shoot? I can't shoot?!" Ruby parroted back the question incredulously. "Your guns are junk! I can't hit anything with them. Pyrrha" - Ruby gestured to her - "Can't hit anything with them either!" Ruby pointed back to the guns, her rising anger becoming more evident. "I think-"

"Maybe we should go?" Pyrrha interrupted.

"But... but their guns are junk! I mean, just look a- _eep_!"

Pyrrha hauled Ruby away before things could escalate further, much to the relief and amusement of the teen running the gallery. "Sorry!" Pyrrha called back to the boy.

Once they were far enough away, Pyrrha let go of a sulking Ruby.

"I guess we tied," Ruby said with disappointment before looking around for another game. "I challenge you to…" Ruby's eyes scanned the closest booths, before pointing to one. "…skee ball!"

Pyrrha cocked her head to the side. "Skee ball?"

Five seconds later - and several lien poorer - Pyrrha found herself in front of a long ramp with several concentric chutes, holding a skee ball. "Okay, you just need to toss it into the chutes," Ruby pointed at several numbered holes at the far end of the machine. "It shouldn't be too hard to do. So highest points wins the tiebreaker!" Ruby sidestepped to a neighbouring skee ball machine and started her own game.

Focusing on the instructions, the game seemed straightforward to Pyrrha_. It seems easy enough… _Pulling back her right arm, Pyrrha was ready to chuck the ball at the chut-

"Wait!" Ruby frantically grabbed Pyrrha. "You need to toss it underhand!"

"Oh, sorry!" Pyrrha looked from the machine to the ball back to the machine. _That makes sense - the long ramp seems to be designed for rolling the ball into the hole_. Switching her grip to an underhanded one, Pyrrha tossed the ball at the chutes, aiming for the fifty point hole. The ball sailed through the air before hitting the chute and bouncing into the gutter. The digital display didn't change.

Ruby leaned over from her machine. "Uhh, Pyrrha, you're supposed to roll the ball on the ramp into the chutes…"

"Sorry!" Taking another ball, Pyrrha rolled it along the long ramp. Barely going over the edge of the ramp, the ball went into the gutter again. Pyrrha's frustration at the game mounting, she grabbed another ball, this time rolling it much harder. Instead of going into the gutter, the ball shot up at the end of the ramp, landing in the ten point chute, much to the delight of the redhead.

With gaining confidence, Pyrrha rolled ball after ball down the lane until she had none left. A few tickets printed off from the machine. _That wasn't so hard…_

"What was your score?" Ruby bounced over. "I got 620… still can't beat Yang's high score." She sighed. "How is she so good at skee ball?!"

As Ruby rambled about how Yang was so much better than her at skee ball, Pyrrha leaned over her own digital display. "90," she recited plainly. Ruby sucked in her breath upon hearing the number causing Pyrrha to look back at her. "Is that good?"

"Uh…not reaaaally?" Ruby sadly shook her head. "The lowest I think I've gotten is… 250?" Ruby's voice was tinged with embarrassment at her apparent skill as Pyrrha's shoulders sunk. "Buuuuut maybe it was just a bad game… wanna try again?"

Several games later, Ruby and Pyrrha had come to the same conclusion: Pyrrha Nikos, the Invincible Girl, winner of tournaments… really sucked at skee ball.

"That wasn't _as _terrible as before… I think?" Pyrrha was at a loss for words as the she stared at the blinking score of 110. "Um... maybe you'd be better with… uh…" Ruby snapped her fingers. "The claw crane?" Ruby nodded furiously at her own suggestion. "It has a lot less throwing involved!"

Ruby led Pyrrha over to the claw crane, before putting in some of her own lien into the machine. "Okay, all you need to do is pick up one of the stuffed animals with the claw and you win it." Ruby manipulated the controls of the crane, edging it closer and closer to one particular stuffed animal - a rather fat looking stuffed Ursa. Pyrrha watched as the younger girl started to sweat, her face a fierce expression of determination.

"Almost there…." Taking a deep breath, Ruby pushed the big red button on the joystick. Slowly, the crane descended, the claw opening up before centering itself around the Ursa's head. The claw closed around the toy, dragging it up and over its fellow stuffed Grimm. At a snail's pace, the crane moved the toy over the chute before letting go, the fat Ursa landing in the receptacle.

Ruby snagged it before moving away from the machine. "Your turn!" Ruby trilled happily as she hugged her newfound acquisition.

_I didn't know how to play skee ball, but I definitely know how to win this. _Pyrrha eyed the controls as she stepped up to it, putting in some lien into the machine_. It can't be any harder than skee ball, right?_

Maneuvering the crane slowly, Pyrrha positioned the claw over a small but cute-looking Beowolf plushie before hitting the button. The claw came down before closing its metal fingers, but the plushie barely evaded the grips of the metal contraption. Pyrrha frowned as the claw came up and opened over the drop area, dropping nothing into the chute.

_Maybe I should just try again?_ Pushing in more lien into the machine, the crane reactivated. Grabbing the joystick, Pyrrha went for the same plushie, intent on owning the cute toy… only to fail again._Third time's the charm, as the saying goes._ Except it wasn't, nor were the fourth, fifth, tenth, or even seventeenth times the charm either.

Pyrrha was feeling more than a little frustrated as the machine proceeded to eat her money without giving her the plushie. As the claw missed the plushie by what had to be millimeters, a thought popped into Pyrrha's head_. A little nudge could help…_ Pushing the claw closer with her power over polarity to the toy before it closed, the machine froze up, the hum of electronics fading.

"Huh, that's weird." Ruby came closer, curiously peering at the frozen machine. "I thought you were going to get it for sure, too."

A horrible sense of guilt started to overcome Pyrrha as she realized that she may have broken the machine. _While cheating. Oh no. Oh no, no, no. This is bad. This is really bad. I didn't mean to break it! _Pyrrha nervously chewed on her fingernails as she tried to figure out what to do next._ Should I tell someone? Then I'd definitely be in troub-_

As suddenly as the machine had died, it whirred back to life, the claw closing and coming up with the plushie barely within its grasp. With wide eyes full of hope, Pyrrha watched as it slowly brought the stuffed Grimm closer to the receptacle… only for it to fall out of the claw.

"Noooo…" Pyrrha whined, sinking to her knees as the plushie sat with its brightly-coloured brethren in the box, mocking her.

"Here." A fat stuffed Ursa bumped into Pyrrha as Ruby held it out for her. "It really did cheat you out of the plushie so, you can have mine!" Ruby finished with a smile.

Pyrrha was reluctant to take the stuffed Grimm from her. Ruby clearly treasured it - _she did hug it for the last twenty minutes, after all_. _I can take a loss_. Pyrrha looked closely at the fat stuffed Grimm. _But on the other hand, it's really cute._

Seemingly sensing Pyrrha's indecision, Ruby insistently pushed it into her arms again. "Think of it as... uhhh..." Ruby snapped her fingers, "my gift to you for winning the tournament."

_I can't say no now, can I?_ "Thank you, Ruby." Pyrrha gratefully held the Ursa and gave it a hug, the fat bear compressing a lot in Pyrrha's arms. _It smells nice too…_ The smell of strawberries permeated the toy.

**Rumble**.

Pyrrha's eyes dart towards the source of the sound as the rumbling continued. Ruby awkwardly tapped her fingers together. "Heh heh, I guess I'm kinda hungry…"

* * *

Deciding to get food, the two redheads had split up to buy some. Pyrrha sat down at a table with a healthy tray of food, filled with fruits and vegetables. There were a few farmers who had set up their own stalls for selling their produce at the festival._Cheaply, too!_

Politely waiting for Ruby with her food to arrive before eating her own, Pyrrha started to wonder what she would return with. _She likes cookies, I think? Maybe she'll bring back a huge cookie… they would sell them here right?_

When Ruby finally showed up, Pyrrha wasn't exactly sure _what_ she had bought. Ruby looked at what Pyrrha had gotten, giving a small frown. "How come you didn't get any carnival food?"

"Is that _what_ that is?"

"Yup!" Ruby nodded cheerfully picking up one of the breaded-looking objects before biting a chunk off of it. "Deep-fried pickles!"

Pyrrha could only stare in horror at the notion of deep frying pickles_. Why… why would anyone want to deep fry pickles?_ Pyrrha's eyes looked back at the wide assortment of shapes. "Are… are all of those deep fried?"

"Yup! Want some?"

Pyrrha had to repress a gag, putting a hand to cover her mouth. _The sheer amount of fat on that plate…_ "N-no thanks."

"Are you suuuuuure?" Ruby pushed a small carton of some kind of indistinguishable deep-fried monstrosity towards Pyrrha. "It's deep-fried chocolate strawberries! They're really good, I promise!"

Pyrrha looked at the food, then at the Ruby and back at the food. "I-I suppose I can try some…" Gingerly picking up what she had been told was a deep-fried chocolate strawberry, Pyrrha took a tentative bite. _Woah_. A taste of delicious, greasy fruit and chocolate exploded in her mouth. _Shit, that is really good._

Ruby started to giggle as a second and third strawberry were quickly and eagerly devoured by Pyrrha. "Told you!~" Ruby gave a sad shake of her head. "Next you'll be telling me you haven't been on a rollercoaster before…"

* * *

There was no way Pyrrha could see herself escaping from this metal contraption; she was bolted into it with an unmovable harness, after all. Ruby was next to her, yet the seriousness, the gravity of the situation hadn't seemed to sink into the younger girl's head.

Pyrrha looked at the girl in question, bobbing up and down in seat excitedly. _How could I let her talk me into this…_

Shaking her head, Pyrrha tried to focus on the now. _I mean, people don't die from this, right? It surely can't be that bad?_ She looked over the edge of the cart at the ground. _Right?_

"R-Ruby," Pyrrha spoke quietly as she lightly but insistently shook Ruby's shoulder to grab her attention. "Maybe we could still leave the ride… there is a emergency stop button somewhere… right?"

"Stop button?" Ruby cocked her head. "Why would we want to leave? It's just about to get fun!"

Pyrrha noticed that they were reaching the apex of the ascent. The clacking of the rails had gotten louder as the sounds of the festival dimmed. Pyrrha nervously latched onto Ruby.

"A-Are you sure thaaAAAHHHHHHH!"

_**WHOOSH**_

It felt like the ground had dropped beneath Pyrrha as the rickety cart plummeted downwards, the sound of the wind overpowering the clacking of the ride. Instantly, Pyrrha's arm went from holding onto Ruby to dangling in the air as they plunged toward the ground. The cart picked up speed and some more speed and even MORE speed as it went into what must have been freefall.

The small cart zoomed into the bend, leveling out but losing none of its speed as it went into the next phase of the ride: the corkscrew. Everything but the track became a blur to Pyrrha, as she no longer was rightside up, instead spinning as the ride barrel-rolled through the next segment. Once. Twice. Three times before finally evening out again.

The ride slowed as it came to its end, the cart pulling into the raised platform, and the safety bars keeping Pyrrha and Ruby in place rose up. Ruby turned to her, "Did ya have fun?"

"That. Was. Awesome!"

* * *

Pyrrha was trying to keep her eyes open as the airbus slowly drifted back to Beacon. The day had been filled with tons of fun - roller coasters, carnival food and games - on top of winning a tournament. Understandably, Pyrrha was more than a little tired. Plus, roller coasters were surprisingly exhausting. It was also late, far later than Pyrrha usually stayed up till - the Vytal festival going through the night - but the pair had decided that they had enough fun for one night and had dragged themselves to the closest airbus terminal.

This was why Pyrrha felt a comfortable weight leaning against her, as Ruby had fallen asleep the moment she had sat down. _If I can't keep my eyes open, I'll be joining her too,_ Pyrrha mused as she fiddled with the stuffed Ursa that Ruby had gifted her, trying to hold it with one hand while keeping Ruby from falling over with the other.

Finally finding a comfortable balance of the juggling act, Pyrrha's eyes started close as the rhythmic hum of the airbus started to lull her to sleep. _Need… to stay… awake_. Deciding to pull up minesweeper on her scroll to at least keep herself occupied and hopefully awake, Pyrrha reached into her back pouch. Pulling out the device, a folded piece of paper fell out of her pouch as well.

_Huh? _Pyrrha didn't remember putting anything in her pouch as she picked it up, unfolding it. It was a photo of herself and Ruby on the rollercoaster - the ride sold pictures taken mid-way through the first drop - Pyrrha and Ruby waving their arms in the air. _Oh right, Ruby bought this for me._ In messy handwriting that Pyrrha knew belonged to Ruby was scrawled "Pyrrha's first rollercoaster".

Pyrrha had gotten several things during the Vytal Festival; a stuffed ursa of questionable size, a trophy for her victory in the Vytal Tournament, a newfound love of deep fried food… but without doubt the one thing she treasured most - far more than victory in the tournament - was the folded up photo of her and Ruby.

* * *

Editor: ASouthernRussian

* * *

AU: Look at all that fluff d'awww.

I sincerely apologize for taking so long to publish this chapter, the next chapter shouldn't even take half as long, at least I hope it will not. On the other hand we finally got to a nice patch of fluff. To be honest with you guys and girls, I wasn't expecting to write this chapter… I realized that I might as well write the festival fun-fun chapter… after all it'd be a waste to not write it, am I right?

The picture of Pyrrha and Ruby on the roller coaster is now something I'd love to see in a picture or drawing or something now. Just those two redheads screaming their lungs out as their roller coaster cart plunges down the drop... priceless!

I'm also sorry for taking AGES to respond to all the reviewers, but I believe I got you all before this posts. Seriously thank you guys and girls for the reviews, as always I really appreciate them!

Response to Anon reviewers;

1st Anon review: I'm glad you love this ship and ship it hard, so do I! :P

2nd Anon review: Here have the update! TAKE IT!

3rd Anon review: to the one also known as Xelar8, I'm glad you like the fight scenes… they aren't the focus but it doesn't mean they should be lagging in quality because of it. You honour me by saying this is your favourite fic!

Thanks for reading everyone, the next chapter should be out in a week or two, time permitting. Until then, have a great day!


	13. Chapter 13: Mirth

**Chapter Thirteen: Mirth**

* * *

_What does Pyrrha do for fun?_

It wasn't the first time that Ruby had wondered that. Throughout the last semester, Ruby had never seen Pyrrha doing any sort of hobby, outside of school work or training. At first, Ruby had thought that Pyrrha just did something for fun when she was alone, but after seeing how Pyrrha spent her typical day, there was no point in which the taller redhead had 'free time'.

Sure, there were times when Ruby had dragged Pyrrha into playing a game or two, but it wasn't something Pyrrha set out to do herself. Weirder still was Pyrrha's reaction to the festival;_ how in dust's name had Pyrrha never been on a rollercoaster before?! Or any of the arcade games, for that matter..._

Ruby shook her head sadly at the thought before staring back at the instructions and returning to the task at hand. _Now what's the next fold?_

At one point Ruby had been very proficient in making origami roses, the key word being 'had'. Ruby could only remember how to start the darn thing; getting the proper twist on the petal was another matter entirely, and it was there where she had gotten stuck_. It HAS been a few years since I last made one of them, _Ruby thought glumly. Ruby had decided to see if she could still make them - _after all, it wouldn't hurt to try?_

Ruby sighed as she tried to fold the paper only to fail miserably, twisting the whole slip of paper into a crumbled mess. _How do the instructions make origami look so easy?_ The happy-looking and colourful instructions broke it down into ten seemingly easy steps. The problem was that Ruby was about as good at origami now as Pyrrha was at skee ball.

Trying again on an unused piece of paper, Ruby delicately started to twist the paper into the form of the flower's bulb. Once the twist was done, the tricky part came next: to fold the bottom portions of the bulb so the rose would maintain its shape. Folding the corners on the bottom into themselves, Ruby's fingers let go of one of the edges causing the half-completed rose to come undone.

"Ugh." Ruby's head plopped into her arms out of exasperation, making a soft sound from the impact in the quiet library. _This didn't use to be so hard!_ Ruby turned her head to look at the stack of failed roses. _Stupid corne-_

"Are you not feeling well?" A hand gently shook Ruby's shoulder. Shifting to look at the voice, Ruby found the concerned emerald eyes of Pyrrha staring at her, worry etched into the taller girl's face.

"Hey Pyrrha." Ruby pushed her head off the table. "Just… trying to make some origami." Ruby grumbled, gesturing her hand towards the crumpled pile of failures.

"Origami...?" Her ponytail swished as her head tilted. "The paper animals?" Pyrrha inquired quizzically, to which Ruby nodded. She picked up a half-formed rose, staring intently at it. Looking back to Ruby, Pyrrha queried, "Is it a frog?"

"Pfft!" Ruby started to giggle, _I'm really out of practice then_. Pulling herself out of her snickering, Ruby embarrassedly admitted, "It's supposed to be a rose."

"Oh!" Pyrrha regarded the rose with a different kind of look before looking back at Ruby. "Can I try?" A pleading quality entered Pyrrha's tone.

"Sure!" Ruby gestured to an open seat at the table. After Pyrrha took sat herself down, Ruby pushed an instruction sheet towards her. "You just need to follow the instructions!"

Pyrrha looked at the instructions before grabbing an unused piece of paper and then looking back at the instructions. Slowly, far more slowly than Ruby would have done it, Pyrrha started to follow the paper, giving the twist to the bulb, forming the petals of the rose. _Now was the tricky part_, Ruby watched Pyrrha with curiosity, wondering how exactly the older girl would handle bending the bottom corners.

Delicately, Pyrrha got a hold on each of the four corners. Gently pulling each corner inward, the redhead gave them a small push in at the same time, stabilizing the rose's petals. Looking back at the instructions, Pyrrha carefully bent the petals so they curved, giving the hard edges of the paper a more organic feel. Glancing back and forth between the rose and the instructions, Pyrrha turned to Ruby, uncertainty clear in her eyes. "Did I do it right?" _How in the…_ Pyrrha frowned at the lack of Ruby's response.

"Um… yea, actually!" Ruby was genuinely surprised at Pyrrha's skill at folding paper. "You got it!"

The uncertainty in Pyrrha's eyes turned into mirth as her frown became a warm smile. "So what's next?" Enthusiasm tinged her voice, clearly excited about origami. "Do I make more of them or…" Pyrrha's voice halted as she waited for the next bit of instructions.

"You can add a stem next, then… um…" Ruby scratched her head; she hadn't thought much about origami beyond making roses. "I dunno? Maybe make a crane?"

Pyrrha nodded vigorously. "How does one make a stem?" Excitement rang in her voice.

Ruby dug through the piles of paper, trying to find the second sheet of the printout. With all the paper Ruby had gone through, it had gotten lost in the all the loose leaf paper on the table. Pyrrha watched wordlessly as Ruby shifted through the messy piles before producing the second page of the instructions and handing it to Pyrrha. "Here ya go!"

Reading over it, Pyrrha grabbed another piece of paper before folding it into a tube. Bending back one end of the tube to create parts that would stick out of it – thereby allowing the stem to stick into the rose - Pyrrha stopped as she looked down at the directions. "So I need to combine the two?"

"Yup!" Ruby pointed to the last picture in the instructions. "Then you get a full sized rose."

Nodding, Pyrrha turned back to her craft. Gently pushing the flaps from the stem into the folds of the paper on the underside of rose bulb, Pyrrha finished the little piece of origami. Holding out the rose – now complete with a slender stem – to Ruby, Pyrrha cocked her head. "I think I did it right… I think."

"Uh-huh." Ruby nodded gingerly picking up the rose. Even after spending a few hours toiling over this project, she hadn't been able to do it, yet Pyrrha did it on her first attempt. "Wow, you're really good at this."

"You are too kind." Pyrrha's face became the same colour as her hair, a small goofy smile forming. "So you mentioned that there were instructions for a crane?"

Ruby nodded furiously. "Yup!" Pulling out her scroll, she found a image set on the Dustnet of how to make a paper crane. Pyrrha wordlessly pulled out another piece of paper from the pile, already starting to fold the paper, her face the image of determination. Ruby watched her, becoming absorbed in Pyrrha's manipulation of the paper. Within a few minutes a paper crane had been produced, perfectly balanced on the hand of a satisfied Pyrrha

* * *

Twenty minutes later, the table was quickly being covered by the Pyrrha's paper creations. Ruby had watched, fascinated as the older redhead had gotten quicker, more confident in her movements. A paper rose tucked behind her left ear, Pyrrha was making a sloth paper figure, complete with a branch for it to hang off, and looking positively delighted doing it.

Ruby was still amazed at the fact that Pyrrha was doing so well. _I don't even think mom was this fast…_ "You sure you've never done this before?" Ruby asked incredulously.

Pyrrha looked up from the half formed sloth and shook her head. "Sadly, no."

Watching Pyrrha return to the papercraft, the old question popped into Ruby's head. "So um… what do you do for fun?"

Finishing the sloth, Pyrrha set it down before turning to Ruby curiously. "What I do for fun?" Pyrrha parroted back. Pyrrha thought for a moment. "Training is fun. Does that count?"

"Outside of training, like…" Ruby gestured with her hands towards the origami on the table. "Do you do anything besides stuff for fighting when you were a kid?"

"Stuff not related to being a huntress?" Ruby nodded. Pyrrha's brow furrowed as she thought for a few moments. "I… played the lyre, although it's been awhile since I last picked one up."

"Ooo, I didn't know you played an instrument!" Ruby was not the most musically inclined person; she had tried the drums when she was little, but that was the extent of her musical experience. The only person Ruby knew that actually played or performed music with any level of success was her own partner, who sang on occasion. "How long have you been playing?"

"I had lessons for it when I was seven, I think? It's been a long while since I played it." Pyrrha forced a chuckle out as she scratched the back of her neck. "I haven't played since before my first tournament if I recall." An embarrassed quality entered her voice. "I'm afraid I'm no longer in practice."

Ruby did a quick calculation in her head. _So the last time she played it was five years ago? _Ruby studied Pyrrha as she returned to the origami sloth. _She must have done something fun at Sanctum, right?_ "What'd ya do when you were at Sanctum? Other than train?"

"I didn't have much time outside of training for activities, I'm afraid." Pyrrha gave a noncommittal shrug. "Especially after the first tournament."

"Oh." Ruby didn't know how to respond to that, _I mean, how do you respond to that? Not having hobbies would be bad! _Thankfully for Ruby, Pyrrha kept talking.

"What did _you_ do before Beacon?" Pyrrha paused for a moment before continuing, curiosity in her voice. "I think you went to Signal Academy, right?"

"Yup! I went there for two years before… here," Ruby awkwardly finished. "I got moved ahead two years, which meant I got to be with my sister, buuuuuut… I didn't get to have any of my friends come with me."

Ruby couldn't help but frown. True, she had made new friends, like her teammates Weiss and Blake as well as all of team JNPR, but it didn't change the fact that the friends – albeit few in number - she knew for years were no longer with her. In fact, she'd only see them as lower classmen in a year if any of them decided to attend Beacon academy after they graduated Signal.

"Surely you still talk to them?" A concerned Pyrrha asked.

"Yeah, we send letters to each other." The frown turned into a smile. "I even got to see them during winter break!" Uncertainty crossed Ruby's face as she looked down at the table, her voice becoming quieter. "Although I don't know if I'll be able to see them during summer break much; Signal and Beacon's summer breaks don't line up well..."

Pyrrha placed a comforting hand on Ruby's arm, causing her to look up at Pyrrha. "You'll find a way; your friends must miss you too." The warmth in her tone dissipated some of the uncertainty on Ruby's face. "Signal Academy is near where your family's house is, no?" Ruby nodded. "You could always just take a day trip there, then."

"You're right… I'm pretty sure they would let me stay overnight too." Pyrrha gave her a smile before going back to working on the origami. A thought occurred to Ruby. "How'd you deal with it, Pyrrha?"

"Hm?" Pyrrha cocked her head. "Deal with what?"

"Y'know…" Ruby didn't think she was being unclear, _maybe she just misheard me?_ "Not being with your friends from Sanctum anymore?"

Pyrrha was quiet for a few moments. _Maybe I shouldn't have asked that?_ Ruby started to fret, _she probably misses her friends a lot… _"Most of them went to Haven Academy, a few went to Atlas or Vacuo, but none of them ended up here." Pyrrha's voice was tinged with sadness. "Regrettably, I haven't been able to talk to any of them since graduation." Pyrrha gave a small shrug before giving Ruby a small smile. "I made new friends, like you and Jaune and our teams."

Ruby was a little taken aback by the answer. _It almost sounds like she didn't mind not talking to her old friends anymore._ "Well, don't you miss hanging out with your friends from Sanctum? You guys must have done a ton of fun crazy things, right?"

"When we were first years, we did." The older redhead slowly shook her head as she kept folding paper. "Not so much after my first tournament, though. It just became harder and harder for us to make time to hang out." A bright smile graced Pyrrha's mouth. "It's why I'm glad I get to hang out with people like you."

"Oh." It was a nice compliment, but there was something deeply unsettling about it. "Well, I like hanging out with you, too!" Pyrrha gave Ruby another smile before returning to the origami.

_Did Pyrrha not have any friends for the past three years? _Even as socially awkward as Ruby was, she had at least made some friends at Signal during her two years. Those were friends she cherished, that made school far more bearable. The thought of not having friends, of not having people who wanted to hang out with you was just… bizarre.

It wasn't just bizarre, it was sad. _Is that why she always trains?_ Looking back at it, Ruby had been wondering why she didn't have any hobbies… yet it would seem that perhaps she didn't have any hobbies was because she had no one to share them with.

Ruby always had someone to share hobbies with; she always had Yang or her small group of friends at Signal or even more recently her team. Yang was always willing to play a round or two of Soul Caliber with her, her uncle was always happy indulge Ruby's fascination in weapons. Even at Signal, Ruby's small social group would hang out at least every couple of weeks, usually talking about the newest gizmo to put on their weapons. Since Ruby had come to Beacon Academy, she could always discuss books with Blake or talk about movies with Weiss.

The concept of not having any of those social connections - any of those people to share interests in - was a sad prospect. _But Pyrrha has her team, right? Yeah she has Jaune!_ Except that wasn't the case anymore; _Jaune is dating Velvet and I know he is pretty busy, we haven't hung out in ages after all_…

_But Pyrrha has Nora and Ren… who are kind of their own thing, aren't they?_ Ruby almost never saw those two separated, something that led more than a few people to make their own conclusions of the two, regardless of what Nora said.

_Does that mean I'm the only person Pyrrha hangs out wi-_

**Snort, Guffaw!**

Peals of laughter shook Ruby out of her internal musings, causing her to turn towards the source. The movement of her head knocked off an origami sloth - Pyrrha must have placed it on her head while she was so deep in though. It was a sound she had never heard coming from Pyrrha before, outright laughter. Not just a giggle or a small laugh, but a continuous stream of it, Pyrrha trying to keep the volume of it down by putting a hand in front of her mouth, but that didn't change it; Ruby could clearly see the mirth in her emerald eyes.

What really got Ruby, what really made her just stop and stare was the mirth in Pyrrha's emerald eyes. It wasn't something Ruby got to see often with Pyrrha. Ruby had seen Pyrrha express a range of emotions before, but mirth she had seldom seen.

In fact, this was the first time Ruby had even seen Pyrrha look so joyful, so free, so… beautiful. This was the Pyrrha that Ruby could see again and again. A small smile tugged at the corners of Ruby's mouth at a new thought.

_I'll do whatever it takes to keep her smiling like that._

* * *

Editor: ASouthernRussian

* * *

AU: It would seem Ruby is growing to be quite fond of Pyrrha.

What had been originally a fluff chapter became a very serious one before becoming a slightly lighter one. Remnants of the most serious draft are still in there if you squint hard enough. I'd also like to thank Nokdu, who drew art several months ago of Pyrrha and Ruby doing origami… honestly the basis of the original chapter concept.

I'm going to apologize in advance for this next bit, its quite long but I really do want to know what you guys and gals think if that's cool?

Now for the serious talk about the near future. I'm going to try and do a chapter twice a month, but you have to understand that when I use the word try, I seriously mean it. I don't know how many of you know this but the process that takes to put out a chapter is quite arduous. Involving numerous drafts spent back and forth between me and my editor, who I will be the first to say has probably better things to do with his time (as well as his own projects… such as Feel the Burn /shameless plug).

That was a bit of a side track but there is something quite serious I want to pose to you guys and girls; with Acceptance my goal is to make a very comprehensive Milk and Cereal story. I want to write Pyrrha/Ruby fluff.

Why do I bring this up here? It'd directly influence THIS story. Either I could start another drabble collection or I could try and integrate every fluff idea I have of Pyrrha and Ruby into this story. You could probably notice this by the fact that scale of the story has boomed from 7 chapters to something closer to 50 now. Would you guys rather get your fluff in a separate story or just wait to have it all in this?

Along those lines another thing has popped up; there are bits and pieces of this story that I want to add on or elaborate. Really just some Omakes/Snippets. I could do a separate chapter of them or I could start to include them at the end of every chapter… what do you think?

My goal for this summer was to get Acceptance to chapter thirteen by the end of August. Mission success!

Finally this is a question about the next couple of chapters. Honestly they are something I'm dreading, they are completely necessary to the plot but I'm wondering how to break them up. Would you rather have a massive chapter come sometime, probably in September, or a series of three shortish chapters? I'd try posting one every ten days.

To the Anon reviewer known as GB: FLUFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF. That is all :P

As always, thank you for reading, and the extremely kind words you dudes and dudettes leave in reviews. Seriously, thank you guys! :D

Have a great day!


	14. Chapter 14: Panic

**Chapter Fourteen: Panic**

* * *

Pyrrha was feeling happy with life.

It was true that the semester had started out with its… rough patches, the largest of which being Pyrrha's partner – and crush - asking Velvet Scarlatina out, notable for not being Pyrrha Nikos. That had been… difficult.

In fact, it had been downright soul crushing to Pyrrha. It had taken her a while to work past that; a little push from Ruby at the dance had helped Pyrrha to start mending her relationship with the boy, even giving Jaune advice at the dance. More recently, they had started to do more nightly training, something that had been infrequent ever since Jaune started to date Velvet. It had even started to feel like it had been before, when Jaune hadn't been going out with Velvet.

It was probably one of the reasons that Pyrrha had been getting closer to Ruby over the past semester. The younger redhead had been there for Pyrrha time after time, and they shared a number of memorable experiences together, like her first roller coaster ride or making all those paper cranes.

_Is Ruby my best friend now? _

A month or two ago, Pyrrha wouldn't have thought so. Her partner was Jaune, which naturally made him Pyrrha's closest friend. The countless nights spent helping him train on the rooftop or study in the library had formed a bond between the two. _Despite him never returning my feelings… _

However, now Pyrrha wasn't so sure. _Is it weird that I'm closer to Ruby then I am to my own partner?_ Perhaps a little. In the end, it didn't really matter to Pyrrha. Ruby was a person Pyrrha could rely on, a person who was her friend and cared about her. Ruby was a person who Pyrrha could have fun with.

It was a far cry from Pyrrha's dynamic with Jaune. It wasn't to say it was bad, but their primary contact wasn't something fun or leisurely, but rather it was related to school or training. Outside of those activities, they had seen a few movies together, such as that Spruce Willis movie, but that was it. The blame for that partly lay on Pyrrha; she'd be the first to admit she did little outside of school or training, having very few hobbies of her own.

But with Ruby, things were different. Ruby would seek her out, wanting Pyrrha to play whatever new video game she had gotten with her. Sometimes, Pyrrha would end up doing zany things with her, like origami or eating deep fried pickles. _I still have some regrets about that…_

Shaking thoughts of how much her life expectancy dropped from fried food, Pyrrha could think of another big difference between her dynamic with Jaune versus Ruby's.

Pyrrha had far more fun.

A lot of Pyrrha's interactions with Jaune were to help him not fail out of Beacon Academy. While necessary and potentially fun, it just wasn't the same as the carefree time Pyrrha spent with Ruby.

While a portion of the time Pyrrha spent with Ruby was also devoted to helping her study, it didn't have the same tone as when she helped Jaune. Jaune was mostly quiet during their study sessions; Pyrrha felt as if she was his teacher not his friend, giving far more in the way of guidance then just as a fellow classmate. It was almost as if Jaune didn't view her on the same level as their classmates or teammates, but as if Pyrrha was a teacher. There was no casual banter like they normally have, no joking around or telling of stories, just 100% focus on the task at hand. It took Pyrrha while to realize why there was such a change; Jaune was there to study, to improve himself as a hunter and a student, not necessarily to spend time with Pyrrha.

Ruby, on the other hand, had created a far more interactive experience. The younger girl did ask for a bit of tutoring every so often, but unlike with Jaune, Pyrrha felt as if she was on far more even ground, not just the one-way interaction between Jaune and herself. While Pyrrha would have to prod Jaune when was unwilling to ask for help, Ruby was more than willing to ask for it. Pyrrha got the feeling that Ruby studied with her less for the help but more just for a friend to hang out with.

It was probably one of the reasons that Pyrrha and Ruby hung out on a daily basis outside of studying. Pyrrha genuinely enjoyed doing activities with her.

That did bring up a question in Pyrrha's mind: _Does Ruby have fun with me too?_

Pyrrha wasn't the most… entertaining of people. She could admit that herself. Other than a handful of books she read over the past few years, Pyrrha really didn't have any interests lying outside being a huntress._ Well, I guess origami would count? But Ruby was the one who introduced me to it…_

Origami was something that Pyrrha found herself doing more and more often, becoming her first real hobby. It was fun to create small, cute paper animals; her space in the team JNPR dorm room had become covered by a number of her creations. Pyrrha was even idly folding a paper rose as she waited Ruby in the library. _Not that the loose leaf paper was being used in the first place, _Pyrrha tried to justify to herself.

It was a different type of experience for Pyrrha; for the longest time she had rarely done something alone outside of her usual activities... something that wasn't related to being a huntress; an activity without a discernable way to help her progress as a huntress.

_The last time I did something for fun by myself must have been… years ago? _Pyrrha couldn't even remember, which was distressing in its own right._ I really do need to get out mor-_

"Um. H-hello."

For once, it wasn't Ruby or even Jaune. In fact, it was the one person Pyrrha had the least desire to speak with, possibly more so than even Cardin.

It was Velvet.

The Faunus girl was standing awkwardly, feet and shoulders slouched inwards. It was a far different posture than what most had in Beacon; to get into the school, an applicant had to be skilled and driven. In most cases, this meant the students carried themselves with a large degree of self-confidence - and rightly so - yet Velvet exhibited none of that.

Pyrrha surprisingly had little contact with the Faunus given that Velvet was dating Jaune. Outside a handful of times that Pyrrha had seen Velvet with Jaune, she hadn't even spoken with her. Not once had Velvet actually approached her, nor had Pyrrha had any reason to talk to her.

The fact that Velvet _was _approaching Pyrrha was causing her to feel… tense, as if her gut hurt and it wasn't that Pyrrha had eaten something bad. The longer that Pyrrha sat in her seat, as the seconds ticked by, the feeling grew and grew, almost like her body was becoming numb from that point. By pure instinct Pyrrha knew if she started to leave, that the feeling would diminish, that her gut would no longer feel like there was a chain connecting it to her chin.

While one instinct told Pyrrha to flee, another told her to stand her ground; the girl that had caused so many troubles and a lot of heartache for Pyrrha was standing right in front of her. Pyrrha would be lying if she said she did not feel at least some hostility towards Velvet…

Perhaps it was because both instincts were in conflict with each other that Pyrrha didn't act immediately on either one, allowing herself to let go of the tension and relax. It was only then that Pyrrha could put a name to what she had just felt:

Panic.

It alarmed Pyrrha that just having Velvet talk to her incited a jumbled panic of responses, it made her no longer feel in control.

Now that Pyrrha had fought down the panic so it no longer overwhelmed her, she weighed her options. _I don't need to respond to her if it causes me this level of stress… but on the other hand, I suppose I have no reason to be unfriendly._

Putting down the piece of paper, Pyrrha turned towards the older girl. Giving a friendly face that might have been more than a little forced, Pyrrha addressed her. "Hello Velvet, how are you?"

"I'm… I'm okay." For someone who was usually timid, it was weird to have her approach someone that'd she never interacted with before_. So what does she want to talk about?_ "Are you busy?" Velvet nervously fiddled with the hem of sleeve as she looked around. "I-if you are, I could come back later…."

_Is she giving me an excuse to not talk to her?_ That seemed to be the case, since it was clear as day Pyrrha had not been doing anything. "I'm not busy…" Adopting a more gentle tone, Pyrrha tried a different approach. "Is something the matter?"

Velvet sullenly looked down at her feet before slowly nodding. "Yes… it's about Jaune."

For one brief moment, Pyrrha thought that something had happened to Jaune, that perhaps there had been an accident. The thought was squashed a moment later when Pyrrha asked herself, _if that was the case, why would Velvet be here and not with him? Maybe I still feel panicked? _Shaking the thought out of her head, Pyrrha looked at the soft-spoken Faunus, waiting for Velvet to continue. After a bit, Velvet continued. "I…um… I need advice."

"Advice?" Pyrrha repeated, dumbfounded. That had been the last thing Pyrrha had expected her to ask. _What could she possibly want advice on? She's dating Jaune, that's farther than I ever got!_ Pyrrha's curiosity was piqued at what Velvet could be getting at.

"I-I asked Coco…" Velvet trailed off, her voice becoming quieter as she continued. "She told me to talk to you since you're Jaune's partner…" Velvet didn't look Pyrrha in the eye, her eyes drawn to the table in front of her, focusing on it as if it was the most interesting thing in the world.

"Well, I can try and help…" At the very least Pyrrha felt worried; Velvet was acting nervous and more quiet than usual. All Pyrrha knew was that it concerned Jaune. _Maybe if she was sitting, it'd help her explain better?_ Pyrrha gestured to an open chair at the table, hoping to make the clearly distressed girl more at ease. "What do you need advice on?"

After the older girl seated herself at the table, Pyrrha waited for Velvet to start. And waited. _Is she going to say anything?_ Pyrrha knew that Velvet was a bit on the shy side, but the silence was slowly becoming awkward as she waited for her to say something. "Has he been acting any differently?" Velvet finally blurted out.

Tapping her chin, Pyrrha went over the last week. "He asked for some extra practice at night… but that's all I can recall, I'm afraid." Pyrrha's curiosity grew, _doesn't Velvet see Jaune every day? _"Does he seem any different to you? I think you see him about as often as I do."

"Oh." Velvet seemed to be only sadder at Pyrrha's response, her long ears drooping. "I…um… a-actually haven't…"

_Is that why he asked for more training this week?_ Pyrrha was taken aback. The initial burst of panic that had filled her was almost gone as Pyrrha no longer felt like she was on the defensive – not that she was from the start – rather, she was starting to feel concerned. Trying to keep a gentler tone, Pyrrha spoke up. "Maybe he just doesn't wish to trouble you?"

Velvet shook her head, her long ears slowly swishing in the air. "I think." Velvet took a shaky deep breath before continuing in a childlike voice. "I-I think Jaune is… is g-gonna…" Tears started to come down from her eyes.

"B-break… up wi-i-ith m-m-me…"

The last word turning into a wail before Velvet's head sunk into her arms, sobbing onto the table.

Pyrrha blinked and froze for a moment before doing what any person would do. She got up and gave Velvet an awkward – but gentle - hug. Despite having her own issues with Velvet, Pyrrha could clearly see the reality of the situation. The girl in front of her looked - and sounded - like her heart had gotten broken. Velvet needed someone to comfort her.

Internally however…

_What in the world?_ Not in a hundred years did Pyrrha suspect Jaune would be breaking up with Velvet. _Although it made sense in a way, especially looking at what Velvet had said. If Jaune was distancing himself, he was trying to let Velvet gently. _

That confused Pyrrha, though_; I thought they were happy together?_ The few times Pyrrha had seen them together, they had _seemed_ happy enough.

Moreover, this did not seem like a thing Jaune would do. Pyrrha had known him for nearly two full semesters now, and he did not seem to be the kind of person to just dump someone. _Then again, I didn't think he had cheated his way into Beacon Academy…_

Even more confusing was the fact that Velvet had gone to her of all people. _I think we've said more to each other in the last five minutes then the last two semesters combined. _Releasing Velvet from the awkward hug, Pyrrha squatted down to her level and ran a comforting hand along her back, waiting for her to say something.

Eventually, the sobs quieted down. "It... it was just a matter of time, wa-a-sn't it?" Pushing herself off the table, Velvet tried to rub the tears out of her eyes. "I was so happy too!" Fresh tears replaced them, as more rolled down her cheeks. "I-I-I thought he really l-l-liked me…"

A fresh bout of sobbing ensued as Pyrrha tried to comfort Velvet, running a soothing hand along her back. "Maybe he is just being busy?" Pyrrha helpfully suggested. "Jaune is probably just studying for finals is all?"

"H-he used to ask m-me for help, bu-u-ut he hasn't for w-w-weeks now." Velvet mournfully shook her head. "I know that h-he only asked me out because no one else was going to s-say yes."

Tears started to pool on the table as Velvet continued. "I know he wanted to get with Weiss and he just settled with me." Velvet gave Pyrrha a very wistful smile. "Even though I knew he was with me because of that I-I-I felt like the luckiest girl."

_The luckiest girl…_ There had been a time when Pyrrha had thought Velvet was that. There had been a time when Pyrrha had never wanted to so much as look at her, yet here she was now, comforting Velvet. A couple of months ago the positions had been reversed, with Pyrrha needing comfort.

Giving a Pyrrha a pitiful look, Velvet had tears dripping off her chin. "I-I know I'm just a b-bu-u-urden to everyone…"

"Shhh" Pyrrha patted the sobbing girl, who only tried to bury her head back into her arms, further into the table, trying to give some measure of comfort. "You aren't a burden, and I don't think Jaune is going to break up with you."

"R-r-really?" Velvet sniffled, looking up at Pyrrha, her brown eyes full of hope.

Pyrrha mustered up the kindest smile she could. "Really. Jaune… Isn't the kind of person who'd just… break up with someone out of the blue?" Despite her reassuring words, the Faunus didn't seem to be holding up very well. "I could talk with him, if you want me to…"

Velvet shook her head vehemently. "No, no, no, I shouldn't drag other p-people in this…. I'm not w-worth it." Fighting back the tears, Velvet continued, bottom lip trembling. "I-if he doesn't wanna to see me a-a-anymore, it's no-"

"He does." Pyrrha interrupted softly. "I would know." Pyrrha gave a soft smile. "I am his partner after all."

* * *

Velvet had hesitantly agreed to have Pyrrha speak to Jaune about it.

Pyrrha felt like she had made the right choice; _the girl was clearly in need of help, and I gave it. I can't imagine Velvet was lying, she seemed to be sincere._ Plus, Pyrrha was more than a little curious as to what was going on with Jaune.

_This really doesn't seem like Jaune, especially after how distraught he was about Velvet not being at the dance a few weeks ago… I can't imagine him breaking up with her_. It was her duty as his partner - no, as a friend - to help Jaune. No matter how Pyrrha felt.

_I just need to get a hold of Ruby and tell her that I can't study with her today_. Pyrrha had tried to call her friend, but Ruby's scroll was turned off. _She probably is sparring with Weiss_. Pyrrha glanced at the wall clock. _Worse case, she shows up and I tell her in person. Then I go straight to Jaune._

_How should I clear this up anyway?_ Pyrrha pondered as she waited,_ I mean, this is a misunderstanding, right?_ Yet as Pyrrha tried to figure out how to approach Jaune about it, her mind started to wander. Eventually, an ugly, ugly thought occurred to Pyrrha.

_If Jaune isn't with Velvet anymore, that means he's free again… _

* * *

Editor: ASouthernRussian

* * *

AU: Well. Crap. Poor Pyrrha, shit just keeps pulling her back in.

The finale for today is done - three stories have updated here, one of them new. Author-san can finally rest!

I apologize in advance for the somewhat lengthy Author's note. I swear I used to be better about this.

As you can probably tell, I'm splitting this section up. It makes my life and my editor's life easier to be honest and I wouldn't be able to put out a chapter until something like October if I really did put it all together. I'm honestly glad I've finally started this... I've been putting this off since chapter five in all honesty.

I had this done and edited before September 1st... except the website went down. First the view counters stopped working then I couldn't log into my account... so... um. Yeah. That was a thing. My goal for the next release is September 18th, although I'm imagining that I probably won't quite finish by then, but I will try!

**Important News #1:** I've officially started paying my editor, ASouthernRussian for his help. He has put well over thirty or forty hours into this while sacrificing his own time, such as working on _Feel the Burn_, his own story. He DESERVES to get something out of this for all the hard-work he has put into this!

When I say I'm paying him... I'm not strictly paying him in the most standard sense, i.e. money... he is just going to slowly own everything involving his OTP of Freezerburn that the Roosterteeth store puts out. For those who are curious, he has received Yang and Weiss plushies, their decals and Yang's hat! The way I'm going to do this is every 100 follows he gets a new bit of merchandise. So when it gets to 500 follows, he gets a new shirt!

**Important News #2**: After the response from reviews last time, I will be leaving the occasional Omake after the author's note! I had to do this one first, and while I was planning on doing a second for this chapter time went by too fast and I couldn't get it out.

**Important News #3**: I'm assuming you, my dear readers, quite enjoy Pyrruby. I too enjoy the ship so I'm pleased to announce that I will be running a second Pyrruby story called "_Spoon Equality_". Its purely fluff and good feelings, and really REALLY cute! I intend to update it every Friday, so there will always be some new Pyrruby content out each week! First chapter is already out!

**Important News #4**: I'm gonna again run under the assumption that you all enjoy Pyrrha and Ruby interactions... so I'm gonna leave a bit of a hint for something coming out later this year.

I may of commissioned something... from a relatively famous RWBY author. You might say she is quite... prolific.

Yeah, okay, you can guess within a heart beat who this person is. Let it not be said I don't support my OTP!

**Response to Guest Review: **Sorry mate. I do intend to do fluff in this story, but some of the fluff I wanted to include was rather... well mindless. Not as in its bad but it just doesn't fit the overall tone of Acceptance. I'm not saying I'm going to exclude fluff from here, its just that it will be in both. I... I'm realizing I did everything against your wishes, I'm sorry D:

As always, thank you for reading, and the extremely kind words you dudes and dudettes leave in reviews. Seriously, thank you guys! :D

Thank you for reading and have a great day!

* * *

Omake I: The Dress

Jaune's night had become surprisingly better.

True, his girlfriend wasn't able to show up to the first dance where Jaune actually was dating someone. Equally as true Jaune had been wearing a dress far longer than he thought he'd be wearing one today.

It didn't change the fact he had ended up having fun.

Moreover, his girlfriend was on her way home. Which meant not only could he see her in the morning but that she had access to the Bullhead's wifi. That meant he could give her a video and voice call through the dustnet.

Putting on his headset, Jaune saw the unread message symbol. Clicking on it, showed Velvet was waiting for the call. Hitting the button, the call started.

As soon as he saw Velvet, Jaune breathed a sigh of relief. He knew his girlfriend was far more combat effective then he was - not that it meant much - but he HAD been worried about her; after all her team's mission had taken far longer than originally anticipated. While he had happiness emanating from him, Velvet's face went through a number of changes.

First it was happy, clearly elated at seeing him. Then it was confused, doing a double take. Finally a beat red blush spread across her cheeks.

"W-why are you wearing my dress?"

Jaune blinked as he realized he was STILL WEARING the dress. "I..um..I-I lost a-a bet and I said I'd wear a dress i-if Pyrrha didn-" Jaune stopped as he realized that Velvet was just STARING at him, not even listening.

"I'm really sorry! Please forgive me!" No response still, causing Jaune to start to panic. "Here I can take it off, s-"

"No!" Jaune stopped mid-motion as his normally soft-spoken girlfriend yelled, her face incredibly red from what must of been the biggest blush Jaune had seen. "N-n-n-no need to take it off..."

"You sure?" Jaune cocked his head. "I mean I know I shouldn't of taken it... heh heh heh." The blond embarrassed rubbed the back of his neck.

_**Woot Whoo~**_

A wolf whistle interrupted the embarrassed laughter as Coco Adel, Velvet's team leader walked into the view of the webcam. Pulling down her ever present sunglasses, the team leader viewed the boy over its rim.

"I see you've already whipped him, good job Velvet!"

* * *

To those who are curious they will mostly be Pyrrha and Ruby (for the omakes), I just had to get this one done first!


	15. Chapter 15: Hamartia

**Chapter Fifteen: Hamartia**

* * *

Ruby couldn't help but feel a sense of déjà vu.

She and Pyrrha were studying for the upcoming semester finals, or rather, Ruby was trying to study while Pyrrha was spacing out. It felt just like a few months ago, when Pyrrha had been down. _Like the couple of weeks after I found her crying in the practice room…_

In the months since then, Ruby's friendship with Pyrrha grew - so much so that Ruby considered Pyrrha to be one of her closest friends. Yet in the entirety of their second semester, Ruby was no more closer to finding out why exactly Pyrrha had been crying, why she had looked so… un-Pyrrha-like that night.

That's not to say Ruby wasn't trying to figure it out; no, it was more of a matter of privacy. The young team leader figured that Pyrrha probably had a good reason to be so sad and gloomy for a few weeks, for breaking down in the practice room. As curious as Ruby was, she wasn't going to press the issue. After a time, Pyrrha stopped being gloomy and more like her old self again – Ruby had figured whatever troubled her had been resolved.

Still, Ruby had her a few theories on what had happened. They ranged from failing a test – _if she is anything like Weiss_ – to a rejected confession – not that Ruby had a shred of evidence for it. The only credible theory Ruby _did_ have was that Pyrrha might have had a falling out with Jaune. It made sense; ever since then, Pyrrha was hanging out far less with her partner. _Then again, we've barely hung out since he started dating Velvet… maybe he is just too busy to hang out with anyone?_

As Pyrrha sighed for what must have been the tenth time, Ruby felt concerned. _Did something happen?_ The emerald eyes that usually seemed so focused and driven were staring at the book laid out in front of her, with no indication of Pyrrha reading the words. Pyrrha had spaced out again. Ruby frowned, _she was cheerful in class earlier… _

_It's time to figure out what's going on!_ Ruby had promised herself to get Pyrrha to smile and laugh more only a few days ago. She wasn't going to break her pledge so soon! "Um… Pyrrha?" Ruby queried hesitantly.

Pyrrha didn't move, only sighing as she stared down at the book. _That's… bad? _"Pyrrha?" This time Ruby spoke a bit more loudly, but still to no effect. Drastic measures were called for.

"Hello~?" Ruby drew out the word before waving her hand in front of Pyrrha's face. "Anyone home?" This, however, did get a response; Pyrrha flailed about at the sudden visual stimulus, her chair tipping backwards before Ruby grabbed on to it, preventing the taller redhead from falling on the ground.

"Sorry!" Ruby blurted out the apology to Pyrrha. She had wanted to get the girl's attention not cause her to fall over! "I didn't think you'd fall over a-a-and I-"

"It's fine!" Pyrrha weakly waved off the apologies. "It's fine, I didn't even fall. You caught me, after all, and it was my fault for zoning out." Pyrrha stiffly looked towards Ruby's books. "Did you need help with something?"

"Uhh…" Words were not coming to Ruby's mouth, causing her to panic. _I should have thought this through!_ The younger girl frantically gestured towards the sheets of paper spread out where she was sitting. "I… uhhh… finished this." Her brain automatically switched to why they were there, for studying. "Could you double check it?"

"Oh. Sure." Ruby watched as Pyrrha scooched over and started to read over her work. The small movements of Pyrrha's head as she read causing her long red ponytail to swish back and forth.

It didn't take long for the elder girl's actions to slow down, the swishing stopping, and the sense of déjà vu returning. It was clear even to Ruby that Pyrrha was lost in her thoughts as she stared, unmoving, at the school work. _Okay, I just need to ask her what's wrong, that's all! It's not that difficult! _

This time, Ruby hesitantly tapped Pyrrha on the shoulder to get her attention, the taller girl seemingly coming back to life. "Sorry, I must have zoned out again, is something wr-"

"What's wrong?"

"Huh?" Pyrrha seemed taken aback at the sudden question. "What do you mean?" The lethargy that had its grips on Pyrrha today seemed to abate slightly as she gave Ruby a reassuring smile. "I'm fine."

To Ruby, it was anything but reassuring. Ruby had seen when Pyrrha had smiled; after all, she had spent a considerable amount of time with her over the months and knew enough to tell that the smile Pyrrha was currently sporting was anything but genuine. Whatever doubt Ruby had about staying out of Pyrrha's personal matters started to leave her as concern filled the empty space it left.

"No. No, you aren't." Ruby's voice had a hard edge to it, something that not only surprised Pyrrha but herself. "You've been spacing out a lot. Like a lot a lot. And you're sighing a bunch, like something sad is on your mind…"

Pyrrha's smile drooped slightly as the melancholic quality returned to her movements. "I'm just tired, that's all. I spent too long staying up helping Jaune train and study for exams." She shook her head. "That's all." Pyrrha repeated, trying to reinforce the idea.

Ruby frowned. _There isn't much else I can do, is there?_ "Well, if that's it, maybe you could take a nap? I think I got the hang of this." She gestured towards the schoolwork. Yet thoughts filtered into Ruby's head as she stared down at the table. _This isn't right, I know something else is wrong with Pyrrha._

"I see." Pyrrha seemed to mull over the words before stiffly getting up and gathering her books and notebooks. "Perhaps that would be best." Even just doing that, Pyrrha's movements were slow and unfocused. It took Ruby a moment to realize Pyrrha was doing; she wasn't making any real effort to pack up, but rather she was stalling, wasting time. The dawdling stopped altogether after a minute, leaving Pyrrha motionless.

Just as Ruby was opening up her mouth to say something before Pyrrha sighed loudly and sat down - her things half packed up on the table - hands clasped in her lap as she looked down at them.

"Jaune and Velvet are breaking up."

_Huh?_ Ruby's eyes widened. "Wha…. W-what do you mean?" This was not what Ruby had been expecting; she'd been expecting something involving Pyrrha, not Jaune. Moreover, the fact that the two were breaking up was just… crazy. "W-w-why?"

"I… I don't know." Pyrrha gave a brief head shake. "Velvet was asking about Jaune before you got here." Ruby could hear Pyrrha's voice shake as she spoke with a tone that Ruby couldn't quite put her finger on. "Jaune has been avoiding her, and Velvet thinks he's going to break up with her at the end of the semester. "

It was surreal to think Ruby's first friend at Beacon would break up with anyone, let alone Velvet. _I've seen those two together. Jaune's always been happy with her and Velvet looked happy too… Jaune breaking up with Velvet? That can't be right. _It wasn't just surreal, it also wasn't like the awkward, dorky blonde that Ruby knew at all. _I might not of have hung out with Jaune much this semester, but he can't of changed that much… could he?_

"Jaune… Jaune wouldn't do that…" Ruby looked at Pyrrha, who just seemed to be frozen in her seat. "He wouldn't do that right? I thought Jaune really liked her, especially after the dance! He even skipped out on our trip to the ValeExpo because Velvet couldn't go…" Ruby was starting to find it hard to speak. "He wouldn't do that… right?"

Pyrrha just shook her head again. "I really don't know." Ruby's shoulder slumped at the response. "Velvet… she broke down in tears." _It's really going to happen isn't it? They are really going to break up… _

The small group of friends Ruby had at Signal had never dated anyone – had never even gone on a date herself for that matter – but she knew about break ups from Yang. She knew how bad they were and how much they hurt, how they turned a once-beautiful friendship into bitter hatred. Ruby didn't want to see Jaune and Velvet go through that - _it'd be devastating to them._

"I told Velvet I'd talk to Jaune," Pyrrha quietly spoke, her voice barely audible to Ruby. "I said I'd try and figure out what's going on."

"Oh."_ Wait, that doesn't make sense. _Ruby's brow furrowed._ If Pyrrha had said she was going to help, why was she here_? "Why aren't you already there right now, then?"

"I don't know what to do!"Pyrrha burst with frustration, her hands wringing in the air, her rigid posture flexing as she leaned over the table. "I don't know why Jaune is avoiding Velvet, I don't talk with him much, and I don't know if Velvet actually did something!" Pyrrha pinched the bridge of her nose. "I don't even know if Jaune thinks there _is _a problem."

Ruby didn't know what to say to that; _what was there to do?_ It was clear Pyrrha didn't know what to do and while Ruby might be Jaune's _friend_, Pyrrha was his _partner_; she should know what's best. Speaking of which, _this must be horrible for Pyrrha!_ Ruby eyed her as she tried to imagine what she would do if they were in switched places. _I'd be terrified for Jaune! _

Yet Pyrrha didn't look like that all; quite the contrary, the older girl looked nowhere near as panicked as Ruby would expect. She wasn't twitchy or jittery like Ruby would be – _then again, she is Pyrrha Nikos: cool, calm, and collected. _Even so, the several-time champion had her cracks - Ruby knew that from experience - yet they weren't , instead Pyrrha looked conflicted. _That makes sense in a way, I guess? I mean, I would be too._

Ruby snapped her fingers as a thought occurred to her; _if Pyrrha doesn't know what's going on, I could ask Jaune for her. That way, Pyrrha would know what's going on better and make a better choice!_ Ruby stood up, drawing Pyrrha's attention, startled emerald eyes tracking her. "Maybe I can help?" The seated girl's head titled. "I, um... I could talk to Jaune as a fellow team leader and ask what's go-"

"No!" Ruby flinched, surprised at the hard edge she heard in Pyrrha's voice and the hand she felt grab onto her arm. When Ruby looked at Pyrrha, however, she didn't see that harshness in her expression; rather, her emerald eyes were wide with panic . "T-t-there is no need to drag you into this! I-I-I told Velvet I would talk to him, not you or anyone else."

"O-okay." Ruby said, deflated in the face of Pyrrha's words as she sat back down. To Ruby, it made sense in a way, but Sun's words flashed in her head - 'You should always get friends involved!' _I guess Pyrrha didn't want to involve me._ "I was just trying to be helpful…"

"I know, I know." Pyrrha's voice softened, almost terrified at her own severity. "I just really need to do this by myself, and I need to do it right or else they'll break up." What struck Ruby as crazy was the shaking that had been in Pyrrha's voice from earlier was gone. _Is she not nervous about this?_ Ruby thought as she studied Pyrrha. The redhead didn't seem as distraught or even as distant as she was ten minutes ago. _No, that can't be right - Pyrrha cares for Jaune, right? She must be just really good at hiding it, is all?_ Ruby was so lost in her thoughts that she very nearly didn't hear Pyrrha speak, only noticing her lips move.

"Perhaps I should just… let the chips fall where they may."

Ruby didn't immediately register the significance of what Pyrrha had just said. For her to even suggest that… "Wha-what do you mean?" _I can't have heard that right. _

"It's not my place to meddle in Jaune's affairs, and if he wants to break up with Velvet, why stop him?" Pyrrha said with a straight face. _I didn't hear her wrong, then…_ "All I'd be doing is prolonging something that he doesn't want."

Ruby stared at Pyrrha in shock. "But… wouldn't Jaune be sad?" Figuring out her logic was starting to frustrate Ruby; _why isn't Pyrrha doing anything?_ "Aren't you his partner? Don't you care?!"

"I do care." The hard edge returned to Pyrrha's voice. "That's why I think it might be best to just let it come to pass… if they aren't meant to be, then they aren't meant to be." Pyrrha sighed as she leaned forward, putting her elbows on the table. "…and maybe I'll get my friend back."

"Huh?" Pyrrha's words only confused Ruby more. "Isn't Jaune already your friend?"

"Yes, of course he is."

"So why can't he be your friend and dating Velvet?" Ruby tilted her head. "I'm confused."

Pyrrha's brow knitted in concentration before continuing. "Before he was dating Velvet…" Pyrrha trailed off as she fumbled with words. "Jaune was… That is to say…"

Pyrrha took a deep breath and closed her eyes to collect her words. Tiredly exhaling, she asked, "Ruby, have you ever liked someone?"

"Yup!" Pyrrha gave Ruby a strange look at the quickness of the response. "I like you and Weiss and Jaune and Blake and Nora and Ren… why would I be friends with someone I didn't like?"

"Romantically."

"Oh." Ruby could feel the heat rising from her cheeks as she thought back to Signal. There had been a few persons-of-interest there, but she'd never gotten the courage to ask them out. Then, there was Beacon; while Ruby felt a close connection to her friends – some more so than others - it wasn't like she exactly had a crush on any of them, _at least, I don't think I do?_ Ruby could admit that she wasn't the most perceptive cookie in the cookie jar, as the saying goes. "I… guess?"

Pyrrha nodded. "Did you ever ask them out?"

Ruby slowly shook her head. "What does this have to do with Jaune and Velvet?"

"Jaune was-" Pyrrha stopped herself before restarting. "Jaune _is_ the person I wish I was with."

"Oh…"

"Ruby, I don't have many friends… I didn't have any when I came to Beacon. I had love and praise, but all that did was put me on a pedestal, a place where no one could reach me." Pyrrha's voice grew bitter. "Would you believe it when I say I chose to go to Beacon for a fresh start, away from Mistral?" Pyrrha had a faraway look in her eyes. "When I was partnered with someone who didn't know about the Invincible Girl, who didn't think of me as some idealized champion… it was like a dream come true. Jaune… Jaune was the first person to actually treat me like a person in years. I had a friend. I... I was happy for the first time in a long time."

An odd smile tugged at the corners of Pyrrha's mouth. It looked… sad. Far sadder than how a smile should look. "I was finally with people that didn't think of me as someone other than just… Pyrrha." Pyrrha didn't look happy to Ruby, _is she trembling_? "If someone makes you happy, happier than you can remember being, that means you're meant for each other, right? Right?"

The smile reversed as Pyrrha's mood fouled. "Then my source of happiness left."

"It was like a void had appeared, sucking the happiness I had gained away." Pyrrha's eyes glistened as she continued, her hands gripping the edge of the table, as if holding onto it would help - like the table was her lifeline. "It felt like what it had been before, when I was alone." Her voice sounded small, feeble, vulnerable– it was hard to believe it belonged to a nearly six-foot-tall combat tournament winner. "I was lonely."

"You aren't alone!" Ruby blurted out. "You have your friends!" Pyrrha regarded Ruby with a questioning look. "You have Ren and Nora… and you have me."

"Yes. Yes I do." Pyrrha favoured Ruby with a genuine smile – one that didn't carry the same sadness as before, her grip slackening on the table. "I have you." The warm smile disappeared as quickly as it appeared while the table groaned in protest. "But wouldn't it better if I could have both?" Ruby's response died in her mouth as the Pyrrha continued. "I-if they break up, I can have Jaune back. I get _that_ happiness back."

Tears started to stream down Pyrrha's cheeks as she continued. "He might never notice my f-feelings, but it's b-better than not trying, better than n-never knowing what it would be like to be with him. All that needs to happen is Jaune and Velvet b-b-breaking up." Pyrrha snapped out of her trance, the death grip on the table released only for her to hug herself as she looked directly at Ruby, emerald eyes misty. Curled up in a ball like that, Pyrrha looked as if she just wanted to shrink away from the world.

Ruby could not fathom how to react to it all. She was frozen with uncertainty of what to do, hands hovering lamely in an attempt to reach out to her crying friend. Ruby stumbled for something to say, but a pained croaking gave her pause.

"Do-does that m-m-make me a bad p-person? I-I just… I jus… I just want to be happy..."

It clicked. It finally clicked in Ruby's brain. Pyrrha's uncharacteristic sadness in the training room at an unholy hour of the morning, when she had broken down upon Ruby had hugged her. Why she had seemed to be agitated in class. Why the cloud of gloom that had followed the redhead for weeks. The way she had seemed so forlorn. Why Pyrrha had been so angry after seeing Jaune and Velvet on a date.

The reason for why Pyrrha was presently softly sobbing over the table and had even suggested allowing Jaune and Velvet to break up. It all made sense now.

_Pyrrha is heartbroken._

* * *

Editor: ASouthernRussian

* * *

AU: Well that was a thing.

Now *I* am sad over my two redheads.

I had this chapter done and sent to editing within a week of the last chapter. Problematically when my editor, ASouthernRussian, sat down and started to edit he basically said "Yeah, so, this might take a bit longer then a week." I think the extra two weeks did wonders for this chapter and allowed me breathing room, which was great.

Release for the next chapter is going to be targeted for the first week of November. I have many real world obligations this month plus my editor does as well. So I'm going to set a hard limit of November 6th, or five weeks from now. You may or may not of noticed I like to do updates at the beginning of the month, which is why you are getting a S_poon Equality, Dilation_ and _Acceptance_ updates within a six hour span of time. I'll try and do it the first Friday of every month. Try being the key word. I would like to keep updates going at least once a month even though I'm stupid busy compared to summer.

If you remember from last time, I mentioned commissioning a story... well the person I was trying to allude to was Momoxtoshiro, i.e. Hana. Also, that particular story is now out, so have some more Pyrrha/Ruby everyone! The story in question is called 'Date at the Zoo'

Kudos to ASouthernRussian (my editor) for the chapter name. Hamartia is a term from Greek theater and is defined as: 1. Sometimes employed to mean acts of sin "by omission or commission in thought and feeling or in speech and actions" 2. concerns the "weakness of the flesh" and the free will to resist sinful acts.

I think its personally quite fitting considering Pyrrha's situation as of now. Yup.

I have a question for you all as well; what do nicknames, pet name or term of endearment do you think Pyrrha and Ruby would come up with for each other?

As always, thank you for reading, and the extremely kind words (and useful feedback) you dudes and dudettes leave in reviews. Seriously, thank you guys! :D

Thank you for reading and have a great day!

* * *

**Omake**:

"Do-does that m-m-make me a JOHHHHHHHHHHN CEEEEEEENAAAAAAA? I-I just… I jus… I just want to be AT THE WWE SUUUUSUUUUPER SLAAAAAAAAAAM!"


	16. Chapter 16: Restraint

**Chapter Sixteen: Restraint**

* * *

"Do-does that m-m-make me a bad p-person? I-I just… I jus… I just want to be happy..."

It dawned on Pyrrha as she looked at Ruby's shocked face, just exactly what she had said and the sheer magnitude of it.

_"I-if they break up, I can have Jaune back. I get _that_ happiness back."_

It was a thought that Pyrrha had entertained ever since Jaune and Velvet had gotten together, but it was just that: a thought. _There is no harm in thinking about 'what ifs', right_? As time passed, Jaune and Velvet started to go on more dates before officially becoming boyfriend and girlfriend. The 'what if' situation in Pyrrha's mind became more of an impossibility, slowly fading into the dusty recesses of her mind. _That was before today, however_.

Today it was no longer a 'what if'; Velvet had put some measure of power to either make or break the relationship in Pyrrha's hands. Truth be told, Pyrrha had no idea if she could really influence Jaune._ Especially if he made up his mind… _That didn't change the fact that Pyrrha had promised to speak to Jaune for Velvet. She had given her word. _So why am I so willing to break it?_

The answer was simple: Pyrrha wanted what she had back then. While she enjoyed the friendship she had built with Ruby in the absence of Jaune, she still wanted Jaune back to how he was when he hadn't been dating Velvet. More than that, she wanted Jaune as a significant other. _The grass is always greener on the other side, as they say._

_Does that make me a bad person?_ Pyrrha knew the answer immediately: _Yes. Yes it does if I'm willing to break up Jaune and Velvet for it… and I told Ruby._ If Pyrrha had kept the thought to herself, it wouldn't have been so bad – Ruby would never have known about this inner ugliness. The fact that Pyrrha had just _told_ Ruby her wish, made her feel rotten. _Ruby must think I'm the worst, and why wouldn't she? I just said I'd break up two people so I could be happy._

**Drip.**

The sound broke Pyrrha from her thoughts. _When did everything get so blurry?_ Pyrrha went to rub the misty quality enveloping her eyes only for the blurring effect to return. _Oh. I'm crying aren't I?_

Through the tears, Pyrrha couldn't even properly see Ruby, how she was reacting to what had been said. _Not that it matters. She probably thinks I'm horrible_. Pyrrha's thoughts continued plummeting into negativity. _Now I don't even have Ruby._

As a quiet sob wracked Pyrrha as she bent over the table. _Now I'm alone again, and it's all my fault. _The phrase stuck in her head on a permanent loop. _It's all my fault. I don't deserve to be happy. It was all a fever-dream; all I am is the Invincible Girl, a champion without peers. Without friends. Without anyone to care for. And it's all my fault._ The surroundings started to fade from her awareness – sounds became muffled, the room became monotone in colour - as Pyrrha became more and more trapped in her own thoughts.

_He was first person to show me any kindness in a long time, and how do I choose to return the favor? I try and betray his trust._ _Was I even trying to help him because I wanted to, or just because I was lonely?_ Pyrrha gave a low, bitter laugh. _The only other person who has even treated me nicely and what do I do? I tell her that I want to break my partner's heart._

It all boiled down to a singular thing, a conclusion that made perfect sense to Pyrrha:

_I am the worst._

_I don't deserve friends, I don't deserve Ruby or Jaune or even Velvet's trust. I don't deserve to be happy. The only thing I deserve to be, is alone._

"I-I don't think you are a bad person."

Ruby's voice pulled Pyrrha out of her mental muck. Pyrrha focused on the blurry figure as much as she could. "I-I… um…" Ruby's voice was trembling as she tried to come up with words. _Who could blame her, I dumped a lot on to her_. "I don't know what Jaune is to you… but to me, he's my friend."

What little hope Pyrrha had in their friendship started to evaporate; _she is Jaune's friend first and foremost, isn't she_? "I've been known Jaune since the airship ride here for initiation; he's always been a good friend to me. We even became team leaders together, somehow." Ruby shook her head at the thought, a small smile on her face. "Sure, there have been some ups and downs, but he's always there, y'know?"

Ruby paused as she got momentarily lost in thought. "I think… I think you are more scared about being alone than anything else." Ruby sounded confident in her statement causing Pyrrha to pause and listen. "Just because Jaune is with someone, I don't think he's going to abandon you. He might not have as much time to spend with you or me because he has Velvet, but that doesn't mean he isn't part of your life.

A strange smile appeared on her face. "I… I actually envied you a little," Ruby shyly admitted. "Whenever we used to hang out, he always mentioned how awesome you were." Pyrrha felt heat rising in her cheeks at Ruby's words. "When we started to hang out, I found out he wasn't wrong; you _are_ awesome." Even through the slowly abating tears, Pyrrha could see Ruby's face get red.

_That still doesn't answer the question…_ Pyrrha's thoughts wouldn't let her escape it. "How could I not be a bad person when I want to break up Jaune and Velvet, so_ I_ can be happy?"

Ruby seemed to deflate a bit. "Everyone has their own low points. Just because you think about something doesn't mean you're bad. At least you didn't act on it." Ruby paused, uncertain before going on. "Not like Yang did."

"I…" Words failed her. Pyrrha never imagined that Ruby would think anything but the best of her sister. _I thought they were really close._

"Yang isn't my full sister." Ruby sighed at the thought. "She's my half-sister." In a small part of Pyrrha's mind, something clicked; _so that's why they have different last names._ "Ever since we were little, Yang has been wondering about her."

"One time, Yang decided that it was time to search for her herself. She put me in a little wagon and took me with her on her journey." Ruby's eyes glazed over in memory. "She must have walked for hours before the Grimm came. If Uncle Qrow hadn't rescued us, we would have died…"

"I know I could blame Yang or think she is some kind of bad person for doing something so stupid, after all, she nearly got us killed…" Ruby's arms started to hug herself as she continued. "But Yang was just scared. She made a stupid choice because she was scared, not because she was a bad perso-"

"What has that got to do with this?!" Pyrrha could see Ruby flinch at the venomous tone as she lashed out. Frustration leeched into her words. "You heard what I said – there is no way I'm a good person. You should just leave me like Jaune did." Pyrrha noticed Ruby cringing at her words, causing her to hold her head in shame at her outburst. A silence ensued.

"Just because you think something stupid, doesn't mean you are a bad person." Ruby's voice penetrated the quiet. "Yeah, Yang screwed up, but we're still here, and I still love her. She was just scared. A-a-and you are too." Ruby's voice wavered as she continued. "Scared of being alone." Pyrrha couldn't deny that as she sat in her seat.

"Jaune didn't abandon you and he won't." Pyrrha didn't look up as Ruby continued. "I _won't_ abandon you." Ruby's conviction grabbed Pyrrha's attention, sharp silver eyes staring into misty emerald ones.

"You're my best friend after all."

Ruby's face became blurry again to Pyrrha as fresh tears coated her vision once more. "…even after all I said?" she asked meekly with a voice so small it almost wasn't even there.

"Yup!" Ruby nodded enthusiastically before flashing Pyrrha a warm smile. "I told you that I'd be there for when you needed to talk to someone, remember?" Dimly, Pyrrha remembered Ruby mentioning that as the importance of what Ruby said sunk in.

Ruby was still her friend. Ruby wasn't going to push her away for what she had said, for wondering just how green that grass was on the other side. Ruby still considered Pyrrha her friend, but not just any friend - her _best_ friend. A best friend? The words seemed foreign in Pyrrha's mind. It evoked memories of the time before the tournaments, back in her early days at Sanctum. Back when she was still an unknown, when she was still considered normal. Back when she still had friends.

_Ruby Rose considers me to be her best friend?_ It added to the emotional mess that she was feeling, but in a more positive way. A positive feeling of happiness floating in a myriad of fears of isolation – of loneliness. She finally had some level of acceptance, not at a casual level of a classmate or an acquaintance, but something greater, greater than even the vaulted position of 'friend' in Pyrrha's mind.

It was a feeling that Pyrrha craved and Ruby had just provided. Pyrrha did the only thing she could think of to do:

She pulled Ruby into a tight hug.

"T-t-thank you."

After a moment, Pyrrha pulled away from Ruby. "I know what I need to do."

* * *

It wasn't hard to find Jaune.

In all fairness, Pyrrha knew exactly where he would be, especially considering they were partners and lived in the same dorm room.

"Hey, Pyrrha." Jaune waved as Pyrrha walked into the room, leaning back on his chair. She saw piles of notes sprawled out on his desk. "I think I might actually be ready for this exam!"

"That's good to hear." Pyrrha gave him a tight smile. "You've really been studying a lot lately." Pyrrha took a seat on her bed as Jaune leaned forward and returned to the pile of notes in front of him. _How do I broach this?_ Pyrrha had been trying to figure it out for the entirety of the day, it'd been gnawing at her during the walk to her own room._ I suppose the most direct approach is the best._ "Hey Jaune, can I ask you a question?"

"Hm?" Jaune leaned back in his chair until he was looking at Pyrrha upside down, a slightly goofy smile plastered on his face. "What's up?"

Taking a deep breath, Pyrrha spoke. "How have you and Velvet been doing?"

The careful balance that had been maintained as Jaune leaned back was shattered, causing him to fall backwards. He flailed about, trying to grab onto something to stop his descent. Pyrrha tried to stop him from falling but couldn't cover the distance fast enough as Jaune landed on his ass. "Ow…"

"I'm sorry!" Pyrrha helped the blonde boy back up gently. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah-h, I'm okay." Jaune shakily came to his feet. "S-see? Good as new." There was a slight warble to his voice as he got back into his chair, turning around back to his desk. "Well, I need to get back to studying now. It's been nice talking with you Pyrrha." From Pyrrha's vantage point, she could see Jaune furiously scribbling away at some paper. As in actually unintelligible scribbles.

"Jaune?" Pyrrha raised a single eyebrow at the hunched over form of her partner. Taking a step forward, she put a hand on his shoulder, the boy jumping in his seat at the touch. "Is everything okay with you and Velvet?"

"I… uh…" Jaune's hand stopped its movements as his chair slowly swiveled to face Pyrrha, his eyes downcast. "I don't think it's gonna work out between us."

_It looks like Velvet wasn't wrong. Still, I should see why it's the case._ Pyrrha walked back a few paces before sitting down on the nearest bed. "What went wrong?" Jaune merely groaned before his elbows rested on his knees, upturned palms supporting his chin. "Did you two have a fight…?" Jaune shook his head, Pyrrha's mouth scrunched up into a frown. "Why won't it work out then?"

"Well…" Jaune's posture stooped lower. "I think she's gonna dump me?"

"Huh?"

Jaune gave Pyrrha a forlorn look as he repeated himself. "Yeah… it kinda surprised me, too."

_That… that doesn't make any sense; Velvet said Jaune was avoiding her, so I would have thought that he was going to dump her? _"Why do you think that?" Pyrrha kept her voice level as she addressed the distressing teen. "I thought Velvet was very interested in you…"

"That's what I thought too!" Jaune's head stayed anchored to his hands as he mumbled. "I mean, I think she was into me – I know I was into her - maybe I was just wrong? Or maybe I did something wrong?" His eyes panned up until they looked at Pyrrha, misty. "When a girl stops talking to you, that's bad right?"

"Stops talking to you?" Pyrrha's confusion only grew. _I thought Jaune was avoiding Velvet, not the other way around._ "What do you mean, Jaune?"

"Well… like…" Jaune struggled with words. "For the last… few weeks – I think – Velvet keeps stopping herself in mid-sentence." The boy sighed as his posture drooped further. "It's like she had something on her mind that she was too afraid to say…"

"That's funny, Velvet was telling me the same thing about you a few hours ago."

Jaune's head finally left its anchor, blue eyes holding a glimmer of hope in them as his mouth numbly moved. "W-what did she say?" He wilted almost as soon as the words left his mouth. "I-i-is she doing okay?" Jaune asked hesitantly, melancholy seeping into his tone.

"Not particularly since you started to avoid her. Jaune, Velvet was curious as to why _you_ were avoiding her." Pyrrha pinched the bridge of her nose as she sighed. "I don't think she wants to break up with you. Quite the opposite in fact." Looking Jaune square in the eyes, Pyrrha continued. "She thinks _you_ are breaking up with her since you've been avoiding her for a while."

"Weird." Jaune gave a self-depreciative chuckle as he looked down at the ground. "Maybe that's what she wants for us."

Pyrrha had enough.

Emotions, bottled up from semesters of having to deal with this… this boy had broken the metaphorical bottle. The anger, the loneliness that came from having to deal with Jaune, the sheer amount of time wasted on his blond ass, who was so focused on his little damn world that he didn't realize how he affected people; how he hurt them.

How he had hurt Pyrrha, as unintentional as it was. How he was causing Velvet such anguish as well. Yet he didn't even realize what he'd made them suffer through?

Something within Pyrrha snapped.

_**SMACK!**_

Jaune went flying from his chair, landing roughly on the ground, a large red handprint on his face.

He looked like a hurt puppy, like when a dog runs into a glass door and doesn't know what had hit him. The look of someone not knowing _why_ their partner just slapped them off their chair. Pyrrha idly noted that about thirty seconds ago, she'd be helping him up. Not now. "W-w-what was that for?!"

Whatever sense of politeness Pyrrha was feeling left her as her mouth opened. "How dare you!" She didn't even give him a chance to speak as she strode over, her emerald eyes staring daggers at him. "No, what the hell is wrong with _you_?!"

_**SMACK!**_

It felt liberating to hit him. A small, remote part of Pyrrha's mind knew that violence was wrong. Pyrrha was done listening to that voice, that restraint.

"Do you know why Velvet came to me today? Do you?!"

"T-t-t-to sa-a-ay that… um" Jaune's eyes nervously darted around as if there was a right answer to the question. "S-s-he's du-u-umping me-"

_**SMACK!**_

There was no part of her that felt sympathy for Jaune as a matching handprint branded Jaune's other cheek.

"W-w-h-hy a-a-are y-"

"Velvet was in tears."

Jaune's words died in his throat. "Huh?"

Pyrrha took a step back before plopping down on a bed. Her anger was simmering down still but ever-present, seeping into her words. "Velvet was in tears because she thought you - _yo_u! - were going to break up with her." Pyrrha glanced at Jaune, seeing the gears turn in his head as he stared, dumbfounded. "She's worried sick that you are going to dump her because you keep avoiding her, and because she can't find you or talk to you, it's been wreaking havoc with her mind."

"R-r-really?" It took a herculean effort to resist moving from her spot as she watched the blonde process the information. "But… but that means…"

"Yes, Velvet doesn't want to break up with you." The hard edge in Pyrrha's tone softened as she shook her head. "She really does like you. Why else would she ask me for help?"

It finally clicked in Jaune's head, his blue eyes widening at the realization that he, _he_ was the one who was screwing up. Pyrrha watched him scramble to his feet and head towards the door.

"I-I-I need to find her!"

* * *

"I… uh… I screwed up."

_No shit, genius_, Pyrrha thought as she watched the Jaune admit his blunder.

Pyrrha kept a respectable distance from the pair. To be completely truthful, Pyrrha felt more than a bit awkward even being near them – _I've already done my part, I don't need to be here _– but had decided she might as well see it through.

At the present, all Pyrrha could see was a sheepish Jaune talking to Velvet. Velvet… looked like she had seen better days. She was barely holding herself together_ \- if Jaune screws up, it's going to be like the library all over again._ Pyrrha really didn't want to see the Faunus reduced to tears again.

"I thought… well you…" Jaune glanced towards Pyrrha in a silent plea for help before turning back to Velvet. "You were acting… different. Not the bad kind of different!" Jaune held up his hands in distress. "Just more… um, quiet? I thought I'd messed up something and you were mad." Jaune's eyes started to travel down, as if he couldn't face Velvet. "I really wasn't sure what was going on."

Velvet was looking increasingly less distraught and more confused as Jaune continued. _I would be, too, if I was in her shoes_. The faunus's eyes darted between Pyrrha and Jaune, asking an unspoken question; _what was going on?_

"I tried to act like nothing was wrong, y'know?" Jaune's voice drew Velvet's attention back to him as he looked back up at her, "But it just kept feeling weirder, like there was something you wanted to tell me but wouldn't… I thought maybe you didn't want to be around me, so I figured that maybe I should give you some space. But…" Velvet's expression changed as it started to click in her head about what Jaune was talking about. "Well… that didn't really help I guess…" Jaune's head hung in shame. "I just thought you didn't like me anymore."

Velvet stared blankly at him. "Jaune, I-I didn't want space…" Jaune's head came up and he stared uncertainly at his girlfriend, waiting for her to say something. Anything. Yet as seconds dragged on for Pyrrha, the faunus remained silent and still.

Jaune, meanwhile was fidgeting, not dealing well with the rather prolonged quiet. "Erm… you're being quiet again."

"H-huh?" Velvet sounded surprised at the comment. "I guess I-I am."

"So… _are_ you breaking up with me?"

It took a moment to sink in, for Velvet's eyes to widen as she held her hands up. "What?! Why would I want that!? Jaune, I love you!"

A very pregnant silence ensued as Pyrrha processed what Velvet had said. _She loves him? Wait a moment… was _that _why she had been acting awkward? _It made sense to Pyrrha from what little she knew about Velvet - _I would have trouble telling someone I loved them, too._

"I-I-I-I um, you don't…" Velvet's flustered voice tried to find words, yet failed miserably. "I mean, uh… I really lik-"

"I love you, too."

Both teens now had matching blushes as they looked at each other. "I… I was really scared when you started to act different because I didn't want you to go." Jaune gave her a smile. "So I love you too."

"I wanted to say it." Velvet mumbled as she smiled for the first time, relief clear in her voice. "I just… I just couldn't bring m-myself to do it. I couldn't work up the courage a-a-and when you started to avoid me, I didn't know what to do…" Tears started to roll down Velvet's cheek, "I… really t-t-thought you were gone…"

Instead of responding with words, Jaune closed the distance between the two and pulled Velvet into a hug, Velvet latching onto him in return while standing on her toes to kiss him in one fluid, familiar motion.

It was at this point that Pyrrha decided that her presence was not needed. _My job is done, they are back together, and I believe that's my cue to leave!_ Her heels clacked rapidly as Pyrrha left the corridor, leaving the two to their reunion in privacy.

"Hey, wait!"

Jaune's voice stopped her, and Pyrrha turned around towards him. He was still holding Velvet, but the girl was whispering something in his ear as he nodded along. Reluctantly, the two let go of each other before Jaune jogged over to Pyrrha. Velvet followed closely behind, her hand clasped together with his.

"Thank you." The two of them smiled at Pyrrha as Jaune talked. "You really saved us… I-I would have screwed us up big time…We owe you big time."

"It was nothing!" Pyrrha gave a weak wave of her hand_. It was the opposite of nothing, but you don't need to know that._ "It wouldn't do for one mistake to end what you two have." Pyrrha put a hand on Jaune's shoulder as she gave a shaky smile. "No harm done, partner."

Pyrrha flinched as she found herself pulled into a hug. "You're the best, Pyrrha." Whatever response she had died in her mouth as she accepted the hug. Velvet stepped up to Pyrrha with her arms half opened, trying to decide if it was okay to hug the girl. Pyrrha gave her a smile and a nod, so the Faunus joined in and made it a group hug.

"T-thank you," Velvet mumbled, barely audible to Pyrrha. "Thank you so much." The tone of Velvet was so far removed from the uncertain, shaky one she had earlier that it was almost unsettling.

Eventually Pyrrha was released from the hug, the two taking a step back from her. "I'm really lucky that you're my partner Pyrrha. You're greatest partner… no," - Jaune corrected himself - "friend, anyone could ask for."

There was no hesitation or tremble to his voice, nothing that would show him as saying anything but the truth. _He truly thinks nothing else of me, doesn't he?_

_We're friends and nothing more._

It almost hurt Pyrrha to admit it as she watched the two walk away, but it was the truth. She was Jaune's friend, and that was that. _I guess that's it then, huh?_

It felt weird to think about it that way, but it also felt… better. Like she was no longer being held down by the what-ifs anymore. It felt like a knot in Pyrrha's chest finally started to loosen as Jaune and Velvet disappeared around a corner. That knot had been tightening for longer than Pyrrha cared to remember. It felt... invigorating. It wasn't all the way gone, but it felt like it was easier to breathe. It was a start.

_I suppose I should get back to studying now._ Pyrrha glanced at her scroll. Time had slipped away from her over the course of the day. _Perhaps dinner while studying would be far more apt, now that I think abou-_ "Ooph!"

Pyrrha felt small arms close around her midsection as something warm pressed up against her back. An oddly familiar sensation. A smile started to creep onto Pyrrha's face.

"Hello Ruby."

"Aww." Pyrrha could practically hear the pouting in the younger girl's tone as the warmth pulled away. "How'd you know it was me?"

Pyrrha turned around, giving Ruby a look. "Only you or Nora would do that, and since you were actually trying to be quiet, well, let's say it narrowed it down a bit."

"Oh." Ruby fidgeted with her fingers. "So um… did it work out?" Ruby blurted out awkwardly. "With Jaune, n'stuff?"

"Yeah." Pyrrha looked back at where the two had left. "It got figured out… they're still together. Stronger than before even." Her tone became distant. "I think they will be together for a long while still."

"That's good." Ruby's voice was nervous. "A-are you going to be okay with it?"

Pyrrha looked back to Ruby; she was playing with the hem of a sleeve, worry was all but pouring off from her, _is she worried about me?_ It made Pyrrha feel… special that the girl was worrying about her.

"I think so. I hope so." Pyrrha shook her head, the long red ponytail swishing behind her. "Jaune and Velvet are happy, and I won't get in their way. That'd be selfish." She gave a long sigh. "Plus, Jaune thinks of me as a friend and a friend only. So I suppose that's what we are." Pyrrha gave a feeble smile. "Friends."

"But he is still you're friend!" Ruby pointed out. "Plus you have me! See, you aren't alone!"

"I suppose I'm not." Pyrrha gave a small chuckle before pulling the smaller girl into a gentle hug, Ruby gladly accepting it. "I do have you."

**Grumble**

"Whaaaaaaaa what was that?!" The loud noise startled Ruby and made her flail about, backpedaling.

"I… may have skipped lunch," Pyrrha sheepishly admitted to Ruby's horror.

"We need to get you to the cafeteria!" Wasting no time, Ruby grabbed Pyrrha's hand, and sped off, nearly dragging the girl as a whirlwind of rose petals follow the two.

_Who knows,_ Pyrrha thought as Ruby led her by the hand off to the cafeteria at break-neck speeds, _maybe I'll find someone who wants to be with me. _

_After all, nothing's holding me back anymore._

* * *

Editor: ASouthernRussian

* * *

AU: I'VE DONE IT!

NO MORE WHAT-IFS, NO MORE WRITING JAUNE DIALOGUE (at least for a while), THE MOST HATED BANE OF MY EXISTENCE!

Jaune's dialogue is a plague upon my house, because I am beyond rubbish at writing it.

Okay, I was able to deliver, right as promised, chapter sixteen. I have a couple of things to address here, however I have three things that are very important that need to be addressed first;

1\. I am uncertain if I will be able to get out a new chapter on the first Friday of December. I'd like to say I will, but I'm about to get stupidly busy in real-life, so I'm not going to make any promises. I will try, but if I don't expect a chapter in mid-December or in January to be completely honest. I am really sorry about this! X_X

2\. This is a big milestone in the story. _Acceptance_ has grown far more than I thought it was going to. The style has changed greatly as well as the length and scale of the project. What do you, the readers think? What have you not liked about these sixteen chapters? What have you liked? What would you like more of? While I may not be writing, I will be outlining, and I would like to know your thoughts! I know what I think, but I have a different view considering I'm the bloke writing this! Tell me what you think, and I'll try and see if I can make it even better! :D

3\. I… I really don't want to do this. I know you guys get excited about _Acceptance_, and I'm excited too! But sometimes… it goes over the line. I'm only going to say this once.

**PLEASE STOP THREATENING ME TO WRITE FASTER, IT WON'T WORK! **

I don't like being threatened, and normally I would ignore it, if it wasn't the fact that it keeps happening! I can get having a cliff-hanger can be annoying, but if I hadn't done it, I wouldn't have put out a chapter for a quarter of a year since it'd be a massive chapter instead of three, more manageable ones.

You need to understand that I do this for FUN, I am in no way morally obligated to continue this. The threats just make me go slower because I lose motivation.

That is all I am going to say on this matter, on to the other stuff;

I owe a lot to my editor; ASouthernRussian, without him this would have just been complete and utter garbage. Seriously. A round of applause for him! (also he got paid in a Yang shirt and a Vytal Festival Poster, yay!)

Originally this was the only chapter I was certain on a name for, 'Friendship', but Restraint seems more apt. Pyrrha is no longer restrained by Jaune, no longer is the what-if holding her back.

I'd like to point out that Ruby would be best able to communicate how close she is to Pyrrha by calling her, her best friend. It's more than that, but in her head, 'best friend' is the only thing that makes sense for Ruby's feelings. I assure you, this is not a friendship story - okay, there is some - but the point is not them being friends but being in a relationship. I just like my slow burn it'd seem.

Oddly enough the 'There are no strings on me' song popped up in my head towards the end.

If I missed a review reply from last time, I'm really sorry! X_X The last few weeks have been crazy stressed for me, classes, work, writing this, new episodes (squeee!~), and my Threezero Ruby Rose getting here _broken!_ If I missed a response, feel free to tell me! It's not because I don't want to talk, I've just been haywire recently! D:

I was planning on doing another omake, but I just simply ran out of time, so I only have two this time around! I'll have the other one for the next chapter, I swear!

Jaune and Velvet's issue was… odd. I actually didn't figure out what it was until middle of writing last chapter. Honestly they just serve as a catalyst for Pyrrha's development and the subsequent Pyrrha/Ruby stuff. They are the two most insecure characters in a relationship, so its little wonder that this happened to them, yay self-doubt!

As always, thank you for reading, and the extremely kind words (and useful feedback) you dudes and dudettes leave in reviews. Seriously, thank you guys! :D

Thank you for reading and have a great day!

* * *

Omake: The Importance of commas

"You are the best, Pyrrha"

Now without a comma…

"You are the best Pyrrha"

One of the many Pyrrhas looked giddy, while the rest were furious at the speaker for picking a favourite.

* * *

Omake: Renora

_**SMACK!**_

Nora and Ren looked at each other, hiding behind the door, as Pyrrha knocked Jaune off his chair. Time to get out of dodge as the saying goes. Their retreat was made in silence, at least until Nora spoke.

"Welp, looks like Pyrrha has finally snapped. Do you think we can visit Pyrrha when she is in jail or...?"

"I hope so Nora, I hope so."


	17. Chapter 17: Distance

**Chapter Seventeen: Distance**

* * *

'If you aren't busy, wanna do a video chat? :D'

Pyrrha's bedraggled face lit up with a grin at the text. _I'm surprised that it even woke me up… then again, this silence is way too… quiet after two semesters of Nora's snoring._

It occurred to Pyrrha, as she slowly typed in a response, that perhaps it would be more prudent to decline the offer for another time._ I should stick to my usual routine and go back to sleep, else I won't be able to wake up for my morning run. _The thought slowed Pyrrha's fingers, leaving her response half-typed when she stopped altogether as her smile faded.

_Then again, it IS summer break; why not live a little?_ The indecision melted away as her fingers resumed tapping out the message. 'That sounds grand! I'll be ready in five minutes.' _I'm jetlagged anyway,_ Pyrrha mused with a sigh before setting down the scroll. _And I suppose I should get out of my pajamas, then… where did I put Milo?_

Pyrrha had seen Ruby not but a few days ago, but it felt weird to not being able to talk to her_; I guess I didn't realize how much we actually spent time together. Between classes, both our teams having meals together, and studying - especially for finals - we probably spend most the day together._ _Although_... The smile returned to Pyrrha. _I suppose that's why we are best friends!_

Pyrrha could hardly comprehend that her first year at Beacon Academy was over. There had been many ups and downs, _but I'd like to think I came out with more ups. I have friends now, like my team… and even a best friend!_ A best friend that she was going to be talking to momentarily. The thought put a skip into Pyrrha's step as she went to her closet to change out of her sleepwear. _Granted, I wonder why she wants to talk at one o'clock in the morning... I hope nothing is amiss. _

Gently closing the door to keep the noise from waking others in the house, Pyrrha, now in comfy sweats, dug her headset out of a desk drawer before setting the scroll on said desk. Plugging in her headphones, she pulled up the messaging program and sent Ruby a quick message saying she was ready.

A handful of seconds later, the headset began to ring as Ruby called her, followed by the video starting.

"Hiya Pyrrha!" The appearance of the younger teen's smiling face made Pyrrha feel happy, even if it was just a video.

"Hello!" Pyrrha gave an energetic wave as she smiled at the webcam. "How are you doin- huh?" The video and audio feed cut out after a few seconds. _Well that's odd, I wonder what happened._

A few seconds later a message popped up from Ruby. 'Stupid scroll's camera died. Need to restart it, give me a sec.' _I guess she is having technical issues?_ Pyrrha leaned back in her chair as she waited for the call to restart. _I wonder what she wants to talk about…_ _She'll probably be curious to what I've been up to._

So far, her break had been… normal. Nothing out of the ordinary had occurred. If there was one word to describe the past few days, it would have to be "quiet". The usual semi-organized chaos that Beacon brought to her life was absent in her house, her family being of a reserved nature. _It's been awhile since it's been this peaceful. No random food fights or pancake monsters or well… anything._

The first semester break had been spent at Beacon, all of her teammates opting to stay at the academy and spent their two weeks off exploring the city of Vale. This time around, her team leader had decided to spend the break with Velvet, while Ren and Nora remained on campus. Pyrrha had decided to visit her family_._ While it was nice to see her family, Pyrrha still missed her newfound friends. Especially Ruby.

The end of the semester had been difficult for Pyrrha, but it made her feel… better. The question that had been on her mind since she had started there had finally been answered: Jaune. _I didn't even realized how stressed that was making me!_ Ever since, she was less stressed or, at the very least, the knot in her stomach had loosened a bit. _It's all thanks to Ruby, I don-_

**Dah-duh, dah-duh**

The sudden blaring of an incoming call filled Pyrrha's ears, giving her a small fright before accepting the call.

"Woohoo!" Ruby sighed in relief, causing Pyrrha to quirk an eyebrow. "I thought the webcam was broken!" Pyrrha giggled at the words as Ruby's image blurred as she carried it over to what Pyrrha had to assume was a bunk bed; the motion causing the screen to pixelate into a blurry mess before returning to some measurable quality. "How've you been?"

"I've been fine. Just-" Pyrrha tried to stifle a yawn. "-just been getting some practice in with some of my old instructors. I've also been fiddling with Milo, too." Pyrrha couldn't help but feel amused at the joy that entered Ruby's eyes at the mention of Milo.

"Ooo, what did you add?" It never ceased to amaze Pyrrha how anything to do weapons or being a huntress caused the teen to get excited - s_he really does like weapons, it would seem. _

"I thought you might want to see it…" Pyrrha reached over to the currently inert weapon before laying it in front of the scroll. "I changed out the firing bolt for one with a smoother action." Pyrrha didn't even ask if Ruby wanted to see it; _this is Ruby, after all_. Quickly stripping the weapon down to its components, Pyrrha held up the part in question. "This is the one."

Ruby's face tilted, her eyes squinting at the screen while the corners of her mouth dipped down into a frown. "I can't see it, it's too dark." Ruby stopped pouting as she backed away from the screen. "Is your room really dark, or did I accidently turn down my brightness again?" Pyrrha saw the camera shake as deft fingers fiddled with something could see her fiddling with it, most likely turning up the brightness on her device. "Stupid scroll-"

"Sorry! My lights aren't on! I thought that my scroll's screen would be bright enough, so I didn't think this would be an issue." Pyrrha reached over from her desk and flipped on a light switch. "There, can you see now?"

"Yup!" Ruby nodded as she finally got a chance to study the bolt. "Maybe I should get one too," Pyrrha swore she could see Ruby's silver eyes literally sparkling at the prospect. "Crescent Rose's bolt has been getting worn out, and I'm pretty sure she'll need a new one before break ends..." Ruby's voice trailed off as she started to focus on the screen with renewed interest. "How come your windows are dark?"

"It's the middle of the night…?"

Ruby did a double take. "It's six thirty here… I thought it was only eight thirty for you… isn't it only a two hour difference?"

"Ah." Suddenly, it made sense why Pyrrha was called at an unholy hour of the night: _Ruby must have forgotten the time difference_. "Not quite… closer to a seven hour difference where I am at."

"I'm sorry!" Ruby sputtered, as she made frantic hand gestures. "I-I-I didn't know that it was the middle of the night! We could, uh, talk more in the morning?" Silver eyes widened. "I didn't wake you up or anything, did I? I'm really, _really_ sor-"

"Ruby." The teen stopped stammering as Pyrrha's voice interrupted. "It's fine." Before Ruby could even respond, Pyrrha interrupted again. "Really, it's fine!" Pyrrha's hands came up in a placating motion. "I'm still jetlagged anyway, plus," Pyrrha gave a warm smile. "I get to talk to you."

Ruby wilted under the pressure. "Alright, if you're sure…"

"I am." An awkward silence ensued as Pyrrha tried to figure out what to say. _I haven't really done much besides training and seeing relatives. I guess I'm just not a very interesting person… it's not like I do anything really cool for fu-_ An excited smile graced Pyrrha's face as a thought occurred to her. _I do have something!_

Opening a drawer from the desk, Pyrrha took out material for a hobby she'd picked up at Beacon from Ruby: origami. With all the sheets on the desk and making sure that the webcam could see the sheets, Pyrrha looked back to Ruby, who was now quite curious to what she'd just pulled out.

"Remember how I really enjoyed the origami paper you lent me?" Ruby nodded, still clearly puzzled where this was going given the giddiness in Pyrrha's voice. "Well, I figured out I could do something really interesting with the concept. Especially since this..." Pyrrha picked up the sheet in front of her, the material now bending as she lightly put it on her open palm. "...is made out of metal."

The thin metal sheet glowed as Pyrrha used her semblance, carefully folding the material with her own control over polarity. After half a minute, it resembled a small bird. Glancing at the screen, Pyrrha couldn't help but chuckle at the wide-eyed expression of amazement that Ruby was giving her. _It's not even the best part!_ Pyrrha couldn't help but feel smug as the origami bird glowed again from her semblance, this time its wings flapping while she moved it around with her power, giving it an illusion of flight, before finally hovering it over her shoulder. Ruby's reaction was priceless.

"THAT'S SO COOL!" Pyrrha's headset crackled at the volume, causing her to flinch. Not that Ruby noticed - the teen was too busy being mesmerized by the fluttering metal bird. "You could do other animals like deer or wolves or elephants or even a dinosaur! You could do a whole origami zoo! Or… or… you co-"

"Mind keeping down the racket, Rubes?" A familiar voice entered the microphone's range. "You just made Zwei g-". Pyrrha could hear the heavy steps as a mass of blonde hair with bright lilac eyes entered the camera's view. "Oh hey, how's it going, Pyrrha?"

"Hello, Yang." Pyrrha gave a small wave, as Ruby tilted the device so she could see the sisters better. "I've been doing well, yourself?"

"Yup! I've just been yangin' in there!" Pyrrha chuckled at Ruby, who dropped the scroll on her bed from the groan-inducing pun. "Just been catching up on sleep-"

**HISSSSSS**

Screeching static suddenly filled Pyrrha's ear, causing her to instinctively push the mute button. It didn't seem to be feedback, though, as both Yang and Ruby swiveled their heads towards the doorway in reaction to whatever the noise was.

Pyrrha tentatively turned the volume to a few percent above zero. She was barely able to hear Yang as she rushed out of the room. "ZWEI! Get out of Blake's stuff!"

"What… what was that?"

"Uhh... lemme go check." Ruby set down the scroll, treating Pyrrha to an excellent view of the bottom of a bunk for a few moments before the teen returned. "Zwei just got into Blake's stuff again." Ruby sadly shook her head. "I don't get why she doesn't like him, it's not like he is going to hurt anything…"

_Huh?_ Truth be told, Pyrrha wasn't quite up to speed on what Ruby's teammates were doing over the break. "Your team is staying at your house?"

"Nope, just Blake. She stayed last break, too." Ruby looked towards what Pyrrha assumed was where the girl in question was. "Yang and I didn't want her to stay at the dorms by herself since Weiss was going back home, sooo we invited her here."

"I see, so that's what that noise was." _Well, that answered that. Makes sense_. Changing the subject, Pyrrha asked, "So what have you been up to?"

An excited gleam entered Ruby's eyes. "I actually got to see my friends from Signal! I didn't even realize how much I missed seeing them… we couldn't hang out for long –their semester starts today- but I did spend a day with them before their semester started!" A happy smile tugged on the corners of Ruby's mouth. "It was really fun!"

"That's good!" Pyrrha favoured her with a warm smile of her own. Dimly, Pyrrha recalled the conversation the two had several weeks ago. _That's right, she was worried about not seeing them._ "Do you think you'll be able to see them again before our break is over?"

Ruby enthusiastically nodded. "Yup! We made plans for next weekend." Ruby's bright expression into something more of a soft glow. "Thanks."

"For what?" _I didn't do anything, did I?_

"For the advice you gave me." The camera jostled as Ruby went from laying on the bed to half-reclined on the pillows. "I… uh, well I wasn't gonna do anything with my Signal friends… I didn't think we'd even see each other," the teen shyly admitted. "If it wasn't for you saying I should try, I probably wouldn't have seen them at all…"

"It was no problem." Pyrrha embarrassedly waved it off. "I'm just glad that it worked out for you, especially since you sounded rather… down about it."

Ruby beamed at her. "So how about you? Got any plans going on with your friends?"

"I'm afraid not. I wasn't planning on doing anything with my team seeing as we are in different kingdoms at the moment." Pyrrha tapped her chin in thought. "Although, we should do a team group call; it'd be nice to see my teammates before I go back."

"That's not what I meant…" Ruby's response trailed off as she gave Pyrrha an… odd expression, almost like disappointment. _I didn't do anything to upset her, did I?_ "I'd visit you if I could, but I kinda don't have the lien for a flight out-of-kingdom…" Ruby mumbled, downcast. "Not that I wouldn't want to see you!" The younger girl's shoulders slumped. "I just kinda spent all my lien seeing my Signal friends…"

"Oh. I see." It would have been very nice to have Ruby visit her. As much as Pyrrha loved her family, being back home still felt like a form of isolation. _They love me, they really do, it just doesn't feel any different being here or at Sanctum._ It was like her family couldn't act like she was just 'Pyrrha' anymore, but that she was somehow better than them, similar to how her fellow students at Sanctum had. _There is always a distance between us now. It might not be physical but it's there. _

With her friends at Beacon, Pyrrha didn't feel that distance. They treated her as, well, as an actual person, not some idealized celebrity. Not as the Invincible Girl. It'd been a wonderful thing, not feeling a distance with Jaune, then Ren and Nora and most recently, Ruby.

Except now there was a physical distance between Pyrrha and her friends. _It's just a shame that Ruby can't visit me he- _Something occurred to Pyrrha. _I don't want to impose… but Ruby _did_ say that she would like to visit, it might be worth giving it a shot._

"Hey, Ruby?" Pyrrha bit her lip in a moment of hesitation. "Would it be alright if I visited you instead? I could stay at a hotel somewhere nearby, that way I wouldn't be imposing on you."

Ruby's expression went from hopeless to excited to aghast in a matter of seconds. "That'd be awesome, but you don't have to stay in a hotel! We definitely have room here, um… uh…" Ruby looked around before looking back at the webcam. "Someone would have to sleep on a couch… or the floor. Buuut you could totally stay here! Blake and Yang would love to have you over, and Dad would like to meet you!" The caped girl sheepishly fiddled with her fingers. "It wouldn't cost you too much would it?"

"It'll be fine, I barely spend any lien as it is." Pyrrha smiled. _It's not like I spend any on myself to begin with; my winnings never get spent on anything fun anyway._ "When would it be best to visit?"

"I…" The smaller girl held up a finger before lowering it. "I don't know? How about right before the break ends? That way we can all go to Beacon together!"

"That sounds grand!"

* * *

_I didn't realize it'd gotten so late._

It was an even more unholy hour of the morning when Pyrrha started to make her way back to her bed. Ruby and Pyrrha had talked for hours, setting up plans for the trip, where they would be meeting at the terminal, all the logistics of going on vacation.

_Is that what this is, a vacation?_ It'd been so long since Pyrrha had even thought of going on one. There were always studies to do, training to be done, some kind of commercial or sponsor event to go to, and Pyrrha had slowly just forgotten how exciting it was to plan for one, let alone going on one! Even with all the events and new places she went to as the Invincible Girl, travel had lost its luster for her. _After all, it's not all that interesting when you are going to a city just to help market something. _

Pyrrha didn't even try and stifle her yawn as she changed into her pajamas._ Now I get to actually go somewhere for fun!_ Pyrrha knew she had a goofy grin on her face as she lumbered towards her bed._ I don't think I've been this excited to go somewhere since leaving for Beacon! Plus I get to be with my friends - my best friend._

No matter how much Pyrrha said the words "best friend" to herself, it never ceased to give her a small smile. It never ceased to make Pyrrha feel honoured that someone considered her worthy of being that, that someone actually cared about her enough and knew her well enough to say that.

That smile didn't leave her face as she pulled the blanket over her and hugged her slightly worn (but still quite fat with fluff) ursa plushie. The long night finally started to catch up to Pyrrha, her consciousness drifting off as a happy thought lazily wafted through her head;

_A birthday to look forward to at last._

* * *

Editor: ASouthernRussian

* * *

AU: A NEW CHAPTER HAS EMERGED, LOOK HOW HAPPY PYRRHA IS!

This blurb will be comparatively short compared to previous ones:

First off, I'm really REALLY sorry for not getting to all of the reviews this time! There were quite a few of the long ones I didn't get to even, and I feel like the worst for not being able to get to them, so I may try and respond to them after I post this (I know its late, but it's better than never!)

This took longer than expected. Not by much, just a week. I'm really sorry it took so long! X_X I'm planning on the next chapter coming out on January 1st, I'm already at the 1,500 word marker! Although the next few weeks are going to get stupid busy for me, I'll try! (Finals week, plus working at a movie theater during Star Wars opening. Yeah. This is gonna be terrifying.)

So canon is pretty thoroughly destroying this story, which while sad, means more fuel for a Pyrrha/Ruby story after I finish this one! In a few years…sometime! Slightly related note; PROTECT NIKOS 2K15! We must protect the Pyrrha, else our children will never know the joy that is Pyrrha!

Seeing as we hit 600 followers, ASouthernRussian got paid in some nice merchandise (Weiss' figurine), and as always, a special thanks to him! Another author who helped, is Super Saiyan Cyndaquil, who provided a omake for this chapter and will probably be doing some more in the future.

Shameless promotion: I'm writing a new story called _Wrath_ – it's a Pyrrha-centric story, "What would it take to make Pyrrha Nikos finally snap and just how far would that rage take her?" It's also my own weird little take on Arkos. Which will amuse some (most likely the people reading _Acceptance_) and greatly annoy others. I put out the prologue last Friday, and will be updating more frequently once Volume 3 ends.

Lastly, I have three omakes for you all today, sizeable ones too!

As per usual, thanks for leaving reviews, (even if I've been too busy to respond to them, I'm REALLY SORRY! X_X) they mean a lot, especially considering how supportive everyone was!

Thank you for reading and have a great day! :D

* * *

**Omake I:**

"Where is he?!"

It took Pyrrha a moment to place who owned that muffled voice, as the door to team JNPR's room burst open from what must have been a very, VERY strong kick; Coco Adel.

"JAUNE ARC WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY FOR YOURSELF?!

"I..uh… w-w-what?" Pyrrha felt as confused as Jaune looked as the rest of team CFVY came in through the breach, sans Velvet. Fox looked angry, though it was hard for Pyrrha to tell with him. Yatsuhashi on the other hand looked downright terrifying, the tall upper-class student glaring at Jaune so hard that Pyrrha was almost certain her partner would combust. Coco herself, was an entirely different creature; she wasn't threatening, no, the air around her felt almost bloodthirsty. Jaune picked up on it, as he started to back away. "I…didn't do anythi-"

"Don't you DARE try talking your way out of this!" Coco strode towards Jaune –the teen being pushed up against the wall in his attempt to feel the approaching team leader. Coco finally stopped a few feet away before pulling something out of her bag, a rather large bullet, and thrusting in front of Jaune's face. "You see this?! Think you can outsmart one of these?!"

"Leave him alone!" With a speed that would possibly even put Ruby to shame, Velvet dashed in between her boyfriend and team leader, a defiant look on her face, taking a protective stance, her arms held out. "I said we figured it out! We're still together!"

Coco's sunglasses lowered as she glared into his eyes. "You make her cry again and we'll see how smart you are." Now content with the fact that Jaune was shaking in her hoody, Coco gave him a second glance. "What happened to your face?"

"T-t-t-that was Pyrrha." All eyes turned to Pyrrha, causing her to feel more then a small amount of discomfort at the fact that she'd slapped her partner silly. "S-s-she kep-p-pt me from doing something stupid."

Coco raised an eyebrow, a small smile quirking her lips, while Yatsuhashi stopped his glaring to give her a thumbs up. Even Fox seemed less angry, not that Pyrrha could tell much, his mouth barely changing it's shape. "Good work Nikos." With that, the assembly of upper classmen –sans Velvet- filed out, past Pyrrha, leaving a very scared Jaune and a curious Pyrrha.

"Why did Coco slap my butt?"

* * *

**Omake II:**

When Ruby heard a knock on the door at the wee hours of the morning, the person she found at it, was quite literally the last person she would have expected. _Okay, not the laaaast, Spruce Willis isn't here… but close!_

It was a rather exasperated Ren.

The fact it was Ren was in itself, necessarily unexpected, especially given that team JNPR and team RWBY lived across the hall from each other. No, it was the fact that Ren looked agitated; in all the time Ruby had known him, through the countless antics of Nora and Yang, not once had Ren's calm ever been broken. _I should probably say something_. Before Ruby could even get a word off, Ren spoke.

"What. Have. You. Done!?"

"Buh-wha?" _I have no idea what he is even talking about! _

Wordlessly he led Ruby across the hall to the team JNPR room.

Ruby… was not expecting the sight that greeted her; the dorm room, normally was quite nice and neat… tidy even –despite Nora residing in it. Now, however, it looked like someone had just covered it entirely with paper. It took Ruby to realize that the paper was in the form animals, like origami. Origami that was currently being created by a very happy looking Pyrrha, with Nora peering over her shoulder while wearing a crown of paper sloths.

Ruby took one look at the glee on Pyrrha's face, the utter delight at having made all of these paper animals for no reason other than she could, because it was fun, before looking back at Ren's bloodshot eyes.

"I regret nothing!"

* * *

**Omake III – Guest author: Super Saiyan Cyndaquil:**

Studying sucked.

Jaune grumbled internally to himself as he practiced balancing a pencil between the top of his lip and nose. School life was about so much more than passing a stupid test about some lame war people started because of ignorant racism.

Why couldn't people just get along? If everyone did, maybe he wouldn't have to be studying for this test and could instead focus on the things that actually mattered. Like fighting Grimm. Or actually getting a date for once.

"You dolt! How could you possibly think that answer is even remotely acceptable?" He glanced briefly at Weiss and Ruby, the former of which was furiously scribbling at the latter's paper. At least Ruby seemed to be having as much fun with this studying as he did.

And Weiss was actually trying to help her out. It wasn't like his own partner wouldn't help him if he asked. But he felt bad always having to rely on her. Wasn't enough that she was training him in combat? He didn't need to take more of her time away.

He considered for a brief moment asking Weiss and Ruby if he could join them. Weiss seemed to know what she was talking about, if that rant she was giving her partner about the war was any indication. The thing was… he had just recently stopped trying to make passes at Weiss and asking her out.

So even if that wasn't his intent, she would probably take it that way. Maybe after more time had passed and that wound healed he could try and just be normal friends with her? Until then though, it was probably better to just leave well enough alone. Besides… Ruby looked to be having even less fun than he was, so for the sake of his sanity he should probably pass on Ice Queen's demonic reign of tutoring.

Jaune turned back to the perpetually blank piece of paper in front of him. "Oops." The sudden movement caused the pencil he had been balancing to fly off his face and clatter onto the floor before rolling an irritating distance away.

Of course. It couldn't have stopped close enough for him to just bend over and pick it up. It had to roll way over there, forcing him to get out of his chair to get it. Why didn't he bring more than one pencil?

With an irritated sigh he slouched off his feet and began to amble over to the fallen object which had rolled all the way up to one of the many bookshelves. Just as he bent over to pick it up, another hand came out from the corner of his eye before grabbing it for him.

He pulled back, eyes darting for the owner of the hand that was now holding his pencil out to him. To his complete surprise, Velvet Scarlatina stood before him, rabbit ears twitching occasionally as she gave him a soft smile.

"Here you are…" She spoke barely above a whisper, but the sound of her voice finally got his body moving again.

"Ah, thank you." He awkwardly rubbed the back of his head with one hand while reaching for the pencil with the other. He didn't know why, but for whatever reason he half-expected her to yank it just out of reach before he could grab it. Instead he took it from her without resistance.

Velvet inclined her head slightly and turned to walk away. Just like that, their brief interaction almost came to an end. "W-wait!" Yet for reasons beyond his own comprehension, Jaune called out to her after she got no more than a couple steps.

She looked back at him curiously, the books in her arms pressing up against her chest as she waited for him to explain why he called out to her. Problem was… he didn't even exactly know himself. He and Velvet didn't exactly know one another.

"Saturday… do you uhh… wanna go see a movie with me or something? Maybe get something to eat?" What the Hell was he doing? Idiot, idiot. Why was it always his first instinct to just ask the girl out? Whatever, she would reject him quick and it would just be done.

Velvet titled her head and one eye quirked oddly as she looked at him like he was some kind of puzzle to be solved. "...Are you asking me on a date?"

"Umm...yeah?" Too late to take it back now. "Just you know, as a way to say thanks. For picking up my pencil." He held it up lamely for emphasis, but even doing that just made him want to die out of embarrassment. Did he really just say that?

He wasn't sure exactly how he expected Velvet to reject him, but her giggling at him was certainly within his expectations. He must have looked like the lamest guy on the face of Remnant right now. "Sure, okay."

"..."

"...Wait, what?"

That was the most unusual rejection he had ever received. In fact, it didn't sound like a rejection at all. But more like a…

"I'd like to go on a date with you, Saturday." Velvet averted her eyes bashfully. "Truthfully… I've been slightly interested in getting to know you ever since you stood up to Cardin. So… my answer is okay."

"Ah... uhh… alright then. Saturday." He nodded to himself several times, still not entirely sure he understood what just happened.

"Saturday." She repeated with a small smile.

"Great. It's a date. I think?" Was he always this redundant? Better walk away before she changed her mind. "I'll pick you up… to be decided. I'll get back with you. In class. Yeah."

Once again she giggled and gave a small nod. "Okay. I look forward to it. Bye, Jaune." With a small wave, she turned back around and this time he only watched silently as she walked away.

Yeah, screw studying for that test.

He had a date to plan for!


	18. Chapter 18: Rush

**Chapter Eighteen: Rush**

* * *

"Where are we going?"

Ruby was surprised it had taken Pyrrha so long to ask the question; they'd been walking deeper and deeper into the forest since morning. _If it had been me, I'd have asked like three hours ago!_ _Especially since I told her to bring a swimsuit! I suppose she just thinks differently._ "It's a surprise!" Pyrrha nodded in response, taking it in stride as the two traversed the hilly terrain. "Are you sure you don't wanna take a break? We've been walking all morning."

"No, no, no," Pyrrha protested the offer. "I'm not tired in the least! I feel refreshed after yesterday, to be honest." That day was the second day of Pyrrha's visit to Patch. In the previous morning, Ruby, Yang, and Blake had picked up the Mistralian from the air terminal. As the four had bumbled around Patch, Yang and Ruby giving Pyrrha and Blake a small tour of the island's main town before finally heading back to Ruby's house for the night. _I don't get how Pyrrha was so awake. It's a long flight from Mistral, and she was up later than I was yesterday! Maybe she slept on the flight ov-_ "Do _you _need a break, Ruby?" Pyrrha's voice interrupted the short teen's thoughts. "We have been walking for quite some time, as you said."

"Nope!" Ruby was the opposite of tired. In fact, she was so downright excited for the trip that she had trouble sleeping the night before. Ruby shook her head before pointing towards where they were headed and cheering, "Onward!" and sprinted off…

…at least she would have if Zwei hadn't whined so loudly.

"Oops!" Ruby looked down at the corgi, his tail in-between his legs, and hit herself on the head_. I completely forgot about him!_ "Sorry buddy. Maybe we should take a break then?"

"That sounds like a grand idea," Pyrrha agreed before settling down on a nearby tree stump. Ruby followed, bending over to pick up the panting dog before sitting down next to the tall teen. Pyrrha looked worriedly at him. "Is he going to be alright?"

"Yeah, he just probably wants something to eat, that's all!" Ruby pulled off her backpack before reaching her hand into it. "I know I packed some treats somewhere… ah-ha!" Pulling out a big, unopened box, Ruby ripped off the top and grabbed a handful of bone-shaped treats to feed to the beleaguered corgi - only to find Zwei snoring loudly in Pyrrha's lap. "Or maybe he just wanted to nap."

"He's so cute," Pyrrha murmured as she gently stroked his fur, a small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth as she watched him snooze. "Have you and Yang had him for a long time?"

"Um, let's see…" Ruby pondered for a moment. "We got him right before I got into Signal, so he's three years old? Three and a half?"

"You mean he doesn't get any bigger?" Pyrrha did a double take, studying the corgi with renewed curiosity. "But he's so small."

"That's just how corgis are." Ruby shrugged. "Plus it makes him easy to carry! You should have seen him when we first got him, he was even smaller." The older teen's eyes widened, no doubt imagining just how small a puppy Zwei was. "When we get back to the house, I can show you some of his puppy pictures."

"That sounds wonderful!" Pyrrha nodded enthusiastically before returning to slowly petting Zwei as an amicable silence settled in. It was during this silence that Ruby found her attention being pulled from the sleeping corgi to Pyrrha.

It was different seeing Pyrrha like this; at Beacon, Ruby saw her pour all of her time into studying or training. Out in the field or in the tournament or even during training, Pyrrha had a brutal efficiency to her, one that Ruby admired. Yet out here, far away from that, away from all that attention and schoolwork, Pyrrha seemed different. She was just a normal teenager petting a dog.

Ruby had always saw Pyrrha as just a normal, kind person. When they'd been showing Patch to her, there had been numerous times when they were stopped by someone who thrusted a pen and paper at Pyrrha, asking for an autograph. Sometimes they wanted a picture taken posing with her. Sometimes people just did double takes as they had strolled along the street, as if they couldn't believe that Pyrrha was actually there.

_It's not like she is some alien or anything, but that has to get to her, right?_ Most of the time Ruby forgot that Pyrrha was famous. The concept that her friend was on the front of cereal boxes – _Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes no less!_ \- was still difficult to grasp.

When Ruby had hung out with some of her friends from Signal, they couldn't believe that she knew Pyrrha Nikos, let alone was friends with her. It was only times like then that Ruby actually remembered who Pyrrha was. Or the fact that she had very few friends. Or how fragile she could be.

The drama at the end of the semester had been bizarre. _Who knew that Pyrrha had a crush on Jaune?_ It blew Ruby's mind to find out her friend was crushing on Vomit Boy of all people. Once the issue had been figured out, Ruby gained a new best friend: Pyrrha.

Yet sometimes, a small question popped up in the back of her head: _what if I'm not Pyrrha's best friend?_

_Of course I am!_ There was no doubt in Ruby's mind to that. _I mean, I think I am?_ Perhaps a little doubt. _I hope I am…_ Okay, a lot of doubt. It was a nagging little thing in the recesses of Ruby's mind. After all, how could she, a girl who would have rather been on a team with her own big sister then meet new people, be best friends with someone as amazing as Pyrrha "Invincible Girl" Nikos, an actual celebrity and huntress prodigy?

_That doesn't matter!_ Ruby shook her head, dispelling the doubts. _I'll make sure that Pyrrha has the most fun she has ever had today… ever!_

"Ruby?" Pyrrha's soft voice pulled Ruby from her thoughts. "Do you think he needs to rest much longer?"

Glancing down at the corgi, it was clear that Zwei was no longer napping but had merely decided Pyrrha's lap was comfortable, as evident of his open eyes that were staring at Ruby. "Yeah, he's just being lazy now."

"Oh! I see." Pyrrha gently picked him up before placing the small dog on the ground, only for Zwei to start whining again. Immediately, her mouth gaped open and her body stiffened as she looked back at Ruby in mild horror. "Did-did I do something wrong?"

"I don't think so?" Ruby studied her dog. "He probably just wants to be carried." Ruby didn't even have to look at Pyrrha, hearing her long crimson hair swishing as she nodded. "That, or he wants to ride in the back pack."

"So… I didn't hurt him?" The pleading voice made it clear that just how afraid Pyrrha was that'd she had harmed Zwei.

"Nope! Professor Oobleck once set him on fire and hit him with a bat, so he can take just about anything." Pyrrha breathed an audible sigh of relief as Zwei took a few steps with his stubby feet before plopping down on the two girls' feet. "He really is lazy sometimes." The shorter teen giggled as she stood up before reaching down and scooping Zwei up in her arms. "Alright! Back to the adventu-"

Pyrrha was focused clearly on the dog still. "Sorry, what were you saying, Ruby?" Her emerald eyes glanced up at her Ruby before returning to Zwei. The solution was quite clear to Ruby.

"You can hold him if you want to."

"I can?" The Pyrrha's eyes were wide with surprise and a hint of wonder in her voice.

"Yup, hold out your arms!" Pyrrha complied and let Ruby gently transfer the corgi to her. A huge smile stretched across Pyrrha's face as Zwei gave her a lick before nuzzling into her arms. "There ya go! Ready to go now?"

"Sure!" Pyrrha nodded. "Which way are we headed?"

"Just follow me!"

* * *

_I wonder where we are going. _

Pyrrha had been more than content to keep the question to herself as Ruby led her deeper into the forest before finally caving in and asking. When they'd planned Pyrrha's visit, back before she'd even bought the airship tickets, Ruby had insisted on keeping that day as a surprise.

Surprises were something that Pyrrha didn't experience too often. For the past few years her life had been nothing but a regimented schedule for school and training. Even tournaments were no longer much of a surprise, as she could almost always guarantee the outcome; in fact, it'd be more surprising if she lost.

So when Ruby had suggested keeping what they'd be doing today a secret, Pyrrha was happy to play along. _Although I have to wonder where we are going_… From what little Pyrrha knew about the island of Patch, the two of them were headed away from the main town and towards the sprawling wilderness in the interior. _As far as I remember from the tour, nothing is there. Oh well_. Pyrrha gave a small shrug. _It'll be interesting to see what Ruby has in store for us_. Until then, Pyrrha was content to follow Ruby while holding a snoozing dog.

At the present, the two were just cresting over a hill when Ruby spun around and swept her arms outwards. "Ta-da! We're here!" Peering around Ruby, Pyrrha finally realized why Ruby had told her to bring a swimsuit.

At the base of the hill, the tree line thinned into a wide, quiet river with a small shack – "building" was too generous a word for the structure - complete with several boats lying on the embankment. Scrawled across the shack's front in big colourful letters were the words **Kayaks for rent!** "We're going kayaking?"

"Yup!" Ruby nodded before grabbing Pyrrha's hand and bolting down the hill towards the shack. "Yang and I used to do this a lot, and it's usually not too busy during this part of the summer 'cause all of the Signal students are back in classes!" Ruby halted suddenly in her rush down to the shack. "I totally forgot to ask: have you gone kayaking before?"

Pyrrha shook her head, a smile stretched across her face. "I have not, although I'm more than willing to try it!" Her eyebrows furrowed, though, as a concern popped into her head. "What about Zwei?" She nodded down toward the slightly less sleepy corgi in her arms, well, left arm since her right hand was being tugged by Ruby. "Do we just leave him here…?" Leaving Zwei at the shack didn't sound like a very good idea. _Won't he get lonely or hungry?_

"He'll come with us, duh!" Pyrrha involuntarily raised an eyebrow, prompting Ruby to explain. "Zwei loves the water, he used to come with me and Yang all the time."

"Oh. Oka-" Zwei started wriggling out of Pyrrha's arms as if on cue, jumping away and dashing towards the river before diving in. Pyrrha didn't even try to suppress a giggle as she watched the adorable ball of fluff bob up and down in the river, his tongue lolling out. "So I see." Favouring Ruby with a smile, she started to walk towards the shack, pulling Ruby by the hand this time. "As you said, onward!"

* * *

As Pyrrha sat down in the small compartment, it dawned on her that she truly had no idea what she was doing.

True, she'd never been kayaking before, but more than that, Pyrrha had never been on a boat at all. It was an odd experience of being so close to the water level yet gliding smoothly over it. It was not unnerving or anything but certainly _different_.

Ruby had insisted on paying for the rental, nabbing the nicest of the surprisingly varied collection of kayaks. _I hope it didn't eat too deep into her pockets. I know Ruby mentioned she was running low on money a little while ago._

Nevertheless, the two, now clad in swimwear, were seated in the kayak, Zwei standing on the front end, carried by the current as Ruby taught Pyrrha how to paddle. "So when I paddle on one side, you paddle on the same side, and, um... follow my strokes and we'll go straight. If we wanna go left we paddle on the left side and if we want to do a hard left, you gotta paddle backwards on the left side, while I paddle on the right. I think?"

Pyrrha looked at the double-ended paddle she was holding and back up at Ruby. "That makes sense. Since you're up front, that would turn the boat quickly due to opposite forces, I believe."

"Yup! Let's try going straight!" With that, Ruby dipped her paddle into the water before gently pushing back. Pyrrha meanwhile followed the motion, propelling the kayak forward. "Just like that." It didn't take long for Pyrrha to get the hang of it; eventually, Ruby's strokes became faster and more of what Pyrrha assumed was a normal pace for her, while Pyrrha matched her speed.

The two of them floated down the river as Pyrrha admired the scenery. The calm river flowed through the forest that covered much of Patch's wilderness, branching off into a myriad of other, smaller streams. In the heat of the summer, the humidity was high, not quite sweltering but high. Moreover, there was a ton of wildlife along the riverbank.

One of the perks that came from being a huntress, even a huntress-in-training, was leaving the kingdom limits and entering into unspoiled nature. Over time, the cities that made up each of the four kingdoms had taken over almost all of the land safe from the Grimm. That's not to say there were no trees, but large untouched forests like Patch's were something you just didn't see within kingdom limits.

The deer that occasionally stared at the two as the kayak glided by were fascinating, or the large century-old trees that occasionally dotted the forest fascinated Pyrrha. Even the vines that snaked through some of the denser parts of the tree line drew Pyrrha's eyes – so much so that she sometimes forgot to paddle.

Suddenly Ruby stopped alternating her paddling, causing the kayak to turn. "Ruby?"

"Don't worry, just taking a detour!" Said detour led the two into a narrower waterway that branched off from the one they were on.

The first thing that Pyrrha noticed was the noise. What had been a low din from the stream started to overpower her ears as the flow of the water sped up creating a low roar. The second thing that she noticed was the dark blue water becoming increasingly white. Going around a bend, Pyrrha could see what was creating such a change.

The river's current was carrying the kayak towards a series of rather vicious looking rapids.

_I may be no expert on boats, but aren't rapids bad?_ At the very least it was concerning. "Should we be going this way?" Pyrrha yelled to be heard over the rapids.

"It'll be fine!" Ruby shouted as she frantically paddled either side of the boat, keeping it from flipping around. "Just keep paddling, I'll keep us from tipping over and it'll be fineee!"

* * *

Ruby had made a mistake.

Everything was not fine. In fact, it was the opposite of fine. In truth, Ruby had never done this before. Not kayaking, no, she hadn't been lying about that. Knowing what she was doing in the rapids? Not so much.

When they'd just gotten on the river, Pyrrha seemed to be enjoying it, and everything was good. Then she'd gone quiet, even setting down her paddle. Clearly, just normal kayaking was too boring for Pyrrha! Plus, Ruby kinda maybe sorta wanted to impress her friend.

_I've never taught someone how to kayak or actually go through rapids before… but I did a good job with the first one, so it can't be that hard, right?_

Yet as Ruby tried to keep the kayak straight, it occurred to her that perhaps there'd still be time to back out. _But then Pyrrha will get bored again._ The indecision made its own choice as the two got close enough to the rapids that there was no turning back.

"Ruby what should we do?" Pyrrha yelled from behind her. "What do you need me to do?"

"Um….uhh…." It was hard to give an answer when one had no idea what to do. "Just… um…. keep the boat… stabl-"

**WHAM**

Ruby was dunked head first into the river, Pyrrha joining her moments later. The current carrying them along with the now wrong side up kayak. It took a few seconds for Ruby to get her bearings.

Much to her dismay, they hadn't been able to even make it past the first set of rapids without the boat flipping over. On the flip side, Ruby was extremely thankful she'd paid extra for the waterproof bags to put all their stuff in when she'd rented the now capsized vessel.

_Is Pyrrha okay?_

Straining around, it didn't take long for the small teen to notice the red hair and the body it was attached to, floating a half dozen feet away. _At least the lifejackets work_, Ruby idly noted as she bobbed up and down in the river.

Swimming towards Pyrrha, Ruby yelled, "Hey Pyrrha! Are you okay?"

The girl in question gave a small wave towards her. "I think so! You?"

"I'm good!" Ruby jerked her head towards the now upside down kayak. "We should probably get that onto the shore first."

It didn't take too long for the two to push the kayak to the sandy shore and finally getting out of the water. Ruby's muscles ached from the exertion, but at least they weren't in danger anymore. She plopped down onto the ground to give her legs a break.

"That was… eventful." Pyrrha commented while checking to make sure their stuff was still in the kayak. "Is it usually that lively?"

"Nope." The younger teen shook her head. "I'm just glad you and Zwei are oka- Zwei?" Ruby realized she hadn't seen him since they capsized. "Zweeeeiiii?!"

"There!" Pyrrha pointed downstream, Ruby's eyes frantically darting towards the direction. Bobbing up and down in the river, wearing an orange lifejacket, was Zwei. Unfortunately, he was getting farther and farther away from the two as the current carried the corgi at an alarming rate.

Ruby started running at full tilt towards the dog. "Zweeeeeeei!" Zwei spun his head around to face her, his small legs uselessly fighting against the current._ He can't get to shore, if we don't grab him, he'll be… gone._

Ruby Rose was not going to lose another member of her family. _I can't lose another,_ _not like… _

Her legs groaned in protest, still aching from swimming to shore, but Ruby didn't care as her gut tightened. _I have to save Zwei!_ Sand gave way to stone as Ruby's bare feet darted across hard-edged rocks. Her aura dampened the pain, but she used most of her aura to augment her speed.

By the time that Ruby was even close to Zwei, it hurt to breathe. The teen was painfully out of breath, her mouth opening and closing like a fish, trying to gulp down as much air as possible. It didn't matter; _anything to save Zwei!_ Steeling herself, Ruby burned through another sizeable chunk of aura in a burst of rose petals, launching ahead of the carried-away corgi.

"Zwei, I'm gonna get you!" The dog barked back at Ruby. _Except I don't know how._ While Ruby could dive back into the river, her legs were so tired that she too would probably get carried away when she got to him.

She found her answer at a bend in the rushing river: an old tree trunk lying nearby. _If I push it across the river, Zwei could grab on to it!_ Even better, Ruby's arms weren't as tired as her legs were. Grabbing onto the log, Ruby pushed with all of her might.

It barely budged an inch.

Ruby wilted at the lack of movement. _It's too heavy to move! _It didn't matter, Ruby was going to save her Zwei, even if it killed her!

Thirty seconds later, she'd moved it about six inches. _Just need to push it another ten or so feet! If only Yang was here, or Nora, or maybe-_ Ruby's eyes widened. _Or Pyrrha!_ Looking back, there was no sight of her friend. Grimacing, Ruby went back to pushing the log out onto the water.

It wasn't much longer until Zwei came into sight, struggling in vain against the current with his stubby little paws. Fortunately for Ruby, help soon arrived.

Pyrrha was sprinting faster than Ruby have ever seen her go, jumping over logs or rocks without being phased. "We need to push this across the river!"

"Understood!" The tall red-head nodded before grabbing onto the log with Ruby.

**SCRUNCH!**

The log didn't just budge. When they heaved at it together, it rocketed – comparatively - towards the river, just in time for Zwei to be caught by it. With his lifejacket prevent him from going under the water and the log stopping him from drifting downstream, it was a simple matter for Ruby to crawl across the tree trunk and gingerly snatch him up from the river.

The very moment that Ruby was on dry land, she hugged her soaked corgi with a Yang-like grip. "Zwei! You're okay!" Zwei licked her nose in response. A tightness that'd been building in Ruby's gut finally loosened. _He's okay now, he's okay now._

"I'm sorry I couldn't here sooner." Pyrrha's gentle apologetic tone roused Ruby from her embrace. "You're really, really fast!"

"I'm just really happy that you got here, if you hadn't…" Ruby trailed off, not wanting to finish the thought. "Plus you were going really fast yourself! Plus, Zwei's fine, see?" Ruby took a step forward to put Zwei in Pyrrha's arms…

…or would have, if the step hadn't been pure misery.

Sharp jabs of pain shot through her foot causing Ruby to lose her balance. Ruby would have careened into the slippery rocks that she'd been standing on, had it not been for Pyrrha's timely catch. Pyrrha scooped Ruby up into her arms. "Ow ow ow!" Ruby's eyes were squeezed shut as she suddenly became aware of tremendous amount of pain both of her feet were feeling.

Pyrrha carefully set her down on the tree stump before Ruby got a good look at the soles of her feet. Nearly fifty or sixty cuts covered the bottom of them, blood freely flowing from them.

It took Ruby a moment to dimly remember why. _It's probably from running on sharp rocks._ "How come your aura isn't healing them?" Pyrrha worriedly asked.

"Probably 'cause I used all of it to catch up with Zwei." Ruby sheepishly rubbed the back of her head. "Whoops."

"We need to get you first aid, now!" Pyrrha stood up and took a step towards where'd they came from before stopping with a shudder. Now that Ruby wasn't so focused on rescuing Zwei, she could see the long trail of blood leading up to where she was now. Turning back around, she found a worried Pyrrha. "Does the kayak have a first aid kit?"

"I think so?" The safety lessons Ruby had gotten when she'd first started had been so long ago, it was quite fuzzy. "It should be in the front of the kayak."

Pyrrha nodded before kneeling down next to her. "Okay, grab on to me."

"Buh-wha?"

"You're in no condition to walk, and it'd take too long to go to the kayak and come back. Plus, it would be bad to leave you alone, so I'm going to carry you."

"A-a-are you sure?" Pyrrha raised an eyebrow, giving Ruby a clear answer. "O-okay." Weakly, Ruby wrapped her arms around her friend's neck. Ridiculously muscled arms securely wrapped around Ruby's legs and back, heaved her up as if she was made of air before turning around and breaking into a jog towards the kayak, with Zwei leading the way.

* * *

As Pyrrha jogged towards the kayak Ruby gave a sleepy yawn.

"Are you tired?" Pyrrha asked while they kept following the blood trail, which grew fainter as they got closer.

"Yeah. All that swimming and kayaking and running was a lot of work." Ruby's head rested on the crook of Pyrrha's neck. "I kinda wanna take a nap." Even in the dimming light, Ruby could make out a frown crescenting on Pyrrha's face. "Or I could stay awake!"

"If you could, that'd be really good, Ruby." Pyrrha glanced at her - or as much as she could, given how close the two were. "You might be more tired from the blood loss more so than anything else."

"Oh. Okay then." Pyrrha gave her a small smile as they continued their trek. "Didja ya have fun? I mean, before we sorta, uh, flipped over." Ruby felt guilty about the rapids still. _I was just trying to make sure she was having fun like a good best friend, but instead I nearly lost Zwei and cut up my feet pretty badly. I think that counts as a fail._

"I did!" Pyrrha's words surprised Ruby. Even from the small glimpse of Pyrrha's eyes, Ruby could have sworn her eyes were shining, barring any doubt about her sincerity. "A bit more intense than what I expected on my birthday, but tha-"

"IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY?!"

Ruby's head shot up from its resting place causing her to nearly fall out of Pyrrha's arms. Her eyes were wide with panic. _I was trying to be a good friend and show her a good time, but I didn't even realize it was her birthday?_ "Oh crap! We could have done something interesting if I knew that, instead of lame kayaking, um... Maybe if we call Dad now, we could still get back to town in tim-"

A soft touch to her shoulder stopped Ruby, drawing her attention to its owner. "Ruby, I'm perfectly happy right now, being here, with you." The beaming smile and twinkle in her eyes were proof enough. "In fact, besides my best friend nearly bleeding out, this has been the best birthday I've had in ages."

Despite everything that had happened, Ruby let a goofy grin stretch across her face. _Pyrrha still had fun at least._ Yet Ruby wanted to do something better then have Pyrrha carry her around for her birthday. "But tomorrow we'll do something awesome! I promise!"

Pyrrha gave her a concerned stare. "Is it going to be safe?"

"…maybe?" Ruby wilted under the emerald eyes' gaze. "It won't be anything dangerous like this, I swear!"

"Then I'm looking forward to it! Today was still fun, though. It was just scary when we capsized." Pyrrha's smile compressed into a thin line. "I just hope I did nothing wrong."

Ruby felt a very distinct pang of guilt. "Uh, funny story that, um." The taller redhead stared curiously at her. "That, um, well, it may have been my fault completely."

"No, no, no. You tried you're best!" Pyrrha shook her head, her long crimson hair swishing across Ruby's arms. "Sometimes things just go wrong, and there is nothing we can do about it. Even though you've done this before.-"

"I actually kinda-sorta haven't?"

"Come again?"

"I went through the rapids like once, when I was little with uncle Qrow and Yang, I don't really know how to…"

Her mouth quirked into a confused frown as Pyrrha's head tilted. "Then why would you-"

"Because you looked really bored when we were going on the peaceful part of the river, and I didn't want to bore you and it looked like you fell asleep, so it was obviously really boring, so I thought 'hey, I know how to make it really interesting, let's go through the rapids!'"

Pyrrha paused in her trek and stood silent for a moment, the gears in her head slowly turning as Ruby's ramble ended. "Wait, you thought I was bored?" Ruby slowly nodded, her eyes downcast at that. "I wasn't bored at all."

"I know that now, it's just... I was really worried that you were and-"

"Ruby." Pyrrha spoke firmly, catching Ruby off guard. Pyrrha seemed to have surprised with her own tone, as she continued with a softer voice. "I'm never bored when I'm with you! It's always an adventure and I always have fun. Like the Vytal festival! Just because I'm quiet doesn't mean I'm bored."

"Oh." Ruby sheepishly rubbed the back of her head. "I really screwed up then, didn't I?"

"Perhaps? Just, remember that I do have fun with you, okay?" Ruby lamely nodded. "And please, please promise me you'll never do something like that again Ruby." Ruby could have sworn that there something other than the spray of the river fell onto her face.

"I don't know what I'd do if something happened to you."

Warmth.

Ruby didn't know if it was because she was no longer panicking, or because both she and Pyrrha were wearing nothing but soaked swimsuits while she was being held against Pyrrha's chest, or even the blood loss, but she felt_ different._

The only way Ruby could describe the feeling: a sudden rush of heat. Not in the sense of putting on a blanket, or sitting in the sun, or… it wasn't something tangible, but she could still feel it within her somehow. She definitely felt something. Ruby became acutely aware of all the points of contact she had with Pyrrha. Her focus was dragged onto those points while heat rose in her cheeks and she didn't know _**why**__._

Try as she might, she could not focus on anything else, the warmth flowing through her body until it felt like she was enveloped in it. It wasn't until Pyrrha gently set her down at the kayak that the influx of warmth slowly ebb away, the bright ruby red blush following suit after.

Even long after the sensation had faded and the two had made it back to civilization, Ruby could still remember with vivid detail _that_ feeling.

_What was __**that**__?!_

* * *

Editor: ASouthernRussian

* * *

AU: That, my dear readers, is a very good question.

Let it not be said that nothing is happening for Milk and Cereal in this story, because stuff is now happening. Though, in my outline this was supposed to be next chapter (which is now two chapters from now), but then again, that chapter was originally this chapter. My outline is confusing sometimes.

Side note, Pyrrha turned 18 in chapter 18. So that's funny.

I hope everyone had a good holidays!

I'm really sorry that I didn't get this done and posted on January 1st like I had planned. I technically had it done but was still editing, but this chapter needed a LOT of editing because of how much I started to rush it at the end. For the sake of my editor's sanity I'm not going to do that again, that's for sure!

I'll be honest, writing this chapter was just a mess; I went from going to do a short, 3,000 word fluff chapter, to 8,000 word to about 6,500 (5,100 outside of the two omakes and author's note).

OKAY SO HAPPY PYRRHA IS NEEDED BECAUSE CANON, SO LOOK HOW HAPPY SHE KINDA WAS THIS CHAPTER? I SUPPOSE? Yeah, she was mostly happy. I'd call this a happy chapter… what about you guys (and gals), was this a happy chapter for Pyrrha? Man I just want happy Pyrrha in canon, but that is a pipe dream amongst pipe dreams at this point, ain't it? I need to write more _Spoon Equality_ this week for happy Milk and Cereal.

So in-between this chapter and chapter 17, _Acceptance_ got put up for Fanfic of the year on the RWBY subreddit! The voting ended on January 2nd. _Acceptance_ got second place, first place being _Remnant's Reclaimers_! So that's a neat little thing, I mean have you seen how popular that story is? I'm surprised and honoured I got ranked as highly as I did (and was the first fic nominated. You know how you are who did that and thank you again! :P )

Now on to more story-relevant business, release schedule.

I'm going to shoot for something like February. Hopefully. The first Friday of every month is what I like to do, and in this case, it gives me four weeks still, which is what I usually do nowadays. Failing that, there WILL be a chapter on the one year anniversary of this story, albeit, I'm hoping for it to be chapter 20 instead of chapter 19.

I ACTUALLY RESPONDED TO ALL THE REVIEWS LAST NIGHT! So at least I did that right this time around. Really sorry about being so late on that; real life (finals + working at a movie theater for star wars release) severely drained me over the course of the last month.

I have two omakes today; another omake from Super Saiyan Cyndaquil with a bit of crossover from the story I help him on, _Spectrum_, as well as a Omake that is somewhat inspired by a conversation with him.

Thank you all for reading and putting up with me for as long as you have, it about to get good :D

P.S. Have a great day too! :D

* * *

**Omake I:**

"So whatca ya get for your birthday?"

"Well, I got something from each of my teammates." Pyrrha reached into her luggage before pulling out three packages.

"Oooo." Ruby's eyes widened. "What kind of awesome stuff did they send you?"

"Well, Ren gave me a book on origami." Pyrrha pulled out a huge tome from a box. "Nora and Jaune's gifts were a bit… odd."

Ruby titled her head. "How do ya mean?"

"Well." Pyrrha awkwardly rubbed the back of her neck. "Jaune gave me this…" The tall redhead handed Ruby a box.

Curious, Ruby opened the box as Pyrrha sheepishly watched. "A pair of gloves?" To be fair, they were really, REALLY soft gloves, so soft that Ruby started to question how much they cost. "They're so soft!"

Pyrrha nodded. "That's what I thought too. The card that went with it said 'for whenever a gentler touch is needed.' I suppose I'll have to ask him about it when we go back to Beacon."

"How about Nora's gift?"

"That one is even more baffling." Pyrrha gingerly picked up the box with two hands, before handing it to Ruby. "Careful, it is _really_ heavy."

Pyrrha hadn't been wrong, the box must have weighed a good thirty pounds, nearly pulling Ruby face first with the ground, only honed huntress reflexes stopped her from dropping it, instead setting it down roughly. Even more curious then the last box, Ruby slowly pulled off the top revealing, well, she didn't quite know what it was.

It was made out of pure metal, with bits of red dust infused into the spikes jutting out from every conceivable angle. The metal itself seemed to be almost like it was in the shape of a… _hand_? "I think this is supposed to be worn, I think?"

Several minutes later, Pyrrha's right arm was now clad in a wicked looking obsidian black gauntlet, almost as if it was glowing with malicious intent – as well as dust. Pyrrha was now admiring the contraption in a bit of awe, same as Ruby. "I just wish I could find the card for it." As the two redheads admired it, a small piece of paper fell off of it, having been trapped between the spikes. Even though Ruby rarely saw Nora's hand writing, there was no mistaking it as anyone's but hers.

"Huh, 'for when you need to smack a bitch'. I wonder what she means… what do you think Pyrrha?"

* * *

**Omake II – Guest author: Super Saiyan Cyndaquil:**

Velvet loved travelling.

It could be said though that her boyfriend, most certainly did not.

Jaune staggered off the train and into the station of his hometown in a panic, hands clamped over his mouth and eyes nearly bulging out their sockets as he bee-lined for the nearest bathroom.

How he managed to do that without slamming into a single person astounded her. He usually described his hometown as quaint, but that wasn't the initial impression it gave as dozens of people formed an indistinguishable mass as they boarded and and unboarded from several different platforms.

Over the dull roar of the crowd, she heard the soothing melody of a guitar being strummed. In a way, it reminded her of the way Jaune played… rather that was because it was a tune she heard from him before or the style was similar she couldn't say. Either way, she followed the melody, curious to find the one producing it.

Her rabbit ears twitched as they guided her to a pillar located near the entrance to the station. Leaning up against it, one leg forming a triangle with the floor, the other spread straight out; was a young woman with shorter, dark purple hair. Covering her ears were a pair of headphones and a couple travel bags were piled next to her. The guitar she strummed looked older, worn out from years of use.

Yet is sounded absolutely beautiful and Velvet couldn't help but be mesmerized by the girl's fingers as they gently strummed the instrument. She couldn't say for sure how long she watched her play, but after a while, the music slowed to a halt. As it did, one red eye cracked open and looked up at the rabbit faunus.

"...Can I help you?" She asked, not in a way that sounded cruel, but certainly suspicious.

Velvet quickly shook her head. "N-no. I was just enjoying your music while I wait for my companion. You play… really well."

The glare the woman was giving softened as she opened the other eye. "Thanks. Most people only come by to tell me to stop." She gave a small smile. "I'm waiting for someone too. If you want, I'll play a little more while we wait."

Velvet nodded enthusiastically. Before she could say anything though, another shout interrupted. "Amethyst!" A girl a couple years younger than Velvet zigzagged through the crowds as she raced up to the older woman. "I found you!" The short red-head with bounding pigtails stopped just in between them, clasping her hands together and yellow eyes shining with unbridled excitement.

"Rouge?" The girl Velvet now knew as Amethyst titled her head curiously. "What're you doing here? Shouldn't you be at home?"

"I couldn't wait to see you and big brother again! I decided to come meet you both!" Rouge's eyes began darting around as if looking for someone else. "Is he not here yet?"

Amethyst shook her head. "His train should've got here by now. I was playing the guitar so he'd find me. You know Jaune though; he'd get lost in his own room."

As the familiar name left Amethyst's mouth, everything clicked in place. "Wait, are the both of you Jaune's sisters?" No wonder this girl's guitar playing sounded just like his. He had mentioned that one of his older sister's taught him.

The two looked surprised for a second, before the younger girl was suddenly right under her nose in a blur, yellow eyes practically sparkling as she looked up at her. "You're Jaune's girlfriend!?" She about squealed, suddenly wrapping Velvet in a tight hug. "I've heard so much about you!"

Velvet didn't know how to react, constantly glancing down at the excited girl and her older sister who merely gave a roll of the eyes while wearing the same small smile. Awkwardly, she returned the hug, gently patting at the girl's pink sweatshirt. "It's nice to meet you. Umm… I'm Velvet Scarlatina; Jaune's girlfriend."

Rouge darted back a small step at her affirmation, eyes darting up and down as she took in her appearance. "You're so cute! I love your ears." Velvet felt herself blush, rabbit ears twitching at the praise.

"Tha-"

"How did you and big brother meet? Oh, are you a Huntress? Did he confess or did you? I've been waiting for so long to meet you. I have so many questions-"

"You've already asked plenty, you dork." Rouge gave a small 'eep' as Amethyst chopped her lightly on top of the head. "Sorry about her." Velvet hadn't realized how tall the older girl was while she was sitting down, now having to look up at her. "She's always been pretty attached to her older brother, and he's always been rather doting on her. As you can see… this is how she turned out."

Velvet quickly shook her head. "I don't mind. It's very… sweet." Although she did have to admit it was a little unnerving how different these sisters were, not only in looks but in personality as well. Were all Jaune's sisters this diversified?

"Ah, there you all are." All three girls turned to Jaune as he strolled up to them.

"Big brother." Rouge grinned happily as she tackled into him. He didn't even stumble, merely returning the hug without missing a beat.

"What's up, Rouge?" Unlike Amethyst, he didn't appear surprised at all that she had come to meet them. "I see y'all have met already. How was your trip, Amethyst?"

The purple-haired girl gaze a lazy shrug. "Pretty cool. I'll tell you all about it on the way home. Shall we get going?"

He nodded as Rouge pulled away from him. Velvet fell into pace with the three of them as they began walking towards the exit of the station; fingers interlacing with Jaune's as they held hands. "How far away is your house?" She asked curiously.

"About an hour on foot." Jaune replied, almost nonchalantly.

"...Wouldn't it be better to just get a cab?"

"No!" All three siblings shouted simultaneously. Apparently no matter how different they were, they all shared motion sickness in common.


	19. Chapter 19: Touch

**Chapter Nineteen: Touch**

* * *

"How come you never get bored of this stuff?"

Pyrrha gazed curiously at her study buddy. "How do you mean?"

Ruby's head softly thudded against the huge, open textbook laid out in front of her. "We've been at this for, like, two hours…" the younger teen whined before looking up at Pyrrha. "Aren't you bored? It's a Friday night, after all. We should be having fun."

"Not really." The taller girl shook her head. "We need to study for the next week's test, and there are still a few more hours until the library closes for the night."

"Stop being the voice of reason, Pyrrha." Ruby mumbled into her textbook, eliciting a smile from Pyrrha. "Can't we just play video games tonight instead of studying? Then we'd get back to it tomorrow, all ready and refreshed!"

As tempting as the offer sounded, Pyrrha decided to stick to her guns; _if I budge an inch with her, then we're never going to study. _Clearly, Ruby's attention was wearing thin at this point, though, so something had to be done. "We can't stop now, but perhaps we could take a five minute break?"

"Yay." Ruby's textbook muffled voice barely registered to Pyrrha before she sat up. "I'm gonna go get something to drink - want me to get you anything?"

"Thank you for the offer, Ruby, but I'm good." Pyrrha held up a half-full water bottle. Ruby gave a quick nod before skipping off towards the small café in the school library, while Pyrrha took the chance to get up and stretch her sleepy limbs.

On the first weekend of the semester, Ruby had convinced Pyrrha to spend a night playing video games and watching bad movies. It was only the beginning of the semester, so what was the harm in having a little fun? A night had turned into a second day, though, and before Pyrrha knew it, the entire weekend was swallowed up. An entire weekend done without any readings or studying or homework. While very, _very_ fun, the two were still playing catch up because of it and with the first major test of the semester on Wednesday, they could ill afford to fall any further behind.

_We've only covered maybe a third of the material..._ _perhaps if we can get about halfway done tonight, we could be able to finish by Monday._ Pyrrha sat back down in her chair before leaning back slightly, her long ponytail swaying behind the chair's back. _The cafeteria should still be open when we leave, so we can grab a bite to eat before I go train with Jaun- no, he has a date tonight with Velvet._ _I suppose my evening _is_ free, then._

Pyrrha hummed in thought as she tried to figure out what to do with an unexpected boon in free time. _Perhaps gaming with Ruby tonight wouldn't be such a bad idea after all? Speaking of which, where is she? It shouldn't take her this long to order something from there._ Glancing towards the small café, Pyrrha noticed that Ruby was chatting with her sister. No sooner after she turned around did Yang pat her little sister on the head before heading off,, leaving Ruby to plod back to their table.

When Ruby wordlessly sat down, posture scrunched up and head covered up by her hood, Pyrrha sensed that something was off. Ruby pulled up one of her textbooks and buried her nose into it, not really focusing on anything in particular - Pyrrha didn't believe for one moment that she was making any real attempt at studying. Concern crossed into her mind. _Yang usually cheers Ruby up, not bring her down like this. _"How was Yang?"

"She's fine, I guess," Ruby muttered after a pause, her voice muffled by the textbook she was holding. "Wanted to know if I could spar after dinner."

"I see." That concretely blew Pyrrha's plan out of the water. _That still doesn't answer why Ruby looks so down._ "Did you not want to spar with her?" Pyrrha asked tentatively.

Ruby lowered her textbook to face Pyrrha - her muted expression lit up for a moment. "Huh? No, it's gonna be fun. Why'd you think that?"

"Well, you don't quite look all that excited about it" Pyrrha stated flatly. "Like something is on your mind."

"Oh." The textbook came right back up. "I-i-it's nothing."

Pyrrha's brow furrowed; _that did not sound like "nothing" to me_. "If you say so, but I'm always willing to lend an ear if you want to talk to someone." Ruby's red hood bobbed slightly, which Pyrrha took as a nod.

Still, as they studied in relative silence, Pyrrha glanced back every other minute at Ruby. _I shouldn't push the issue, but it's clearly eating at her._ Ruby might have looked like she was focused to a random passerby, but Pyrrha knew better. Ruby focusing on something was never a slow endeavor, rather, she was animated about it, energetic.

To Pyrrha's surprise and relief, Ruby eventually spoke up. "Is it easy for you too?"

"Easy?" Pyrrha parroted back as she bookmarked her page.

"This. Y'know, homework and studying?" Ruby gestured lamely to the pile of notes scattered across the table. "Classes in general?"

"Hmm." Pyrrha tapped her index finger against her chin. "It depends," she answered after a pause. "If I work hard enough, then the material from class sticks in my head, allowing me to perform better on exams and better understand future material. I suppose as long as I stay on top of the classwork then it's not too difficult."

"So it _is_ easy for you." Ruby sighed dejectedly while staring sullenly at the table.

"It's not _that_ easy," Pyrrha gently reassured before holding up one of the textbooks, a text so large that she was half certain it was heavier than Magnhild. "The laws of the four kingdoms is dense for anyone. That's why I need to take the time to carefully read through it." Ruby barely glanced at it before staring back down at the table, causing Pyrrha's lips to quirk into a frown. "Is something about class troubling you?"

Ruby halfheartedly shook her head. "Not really," the short girl groaned as she picked up the textbook, doing her best to go back to hiding behind it.

_That still doesn't sound like nothing_. To her credit, Ruby did well in subjects she was interested in; her grades in combat classes, engineering and Grimm studies were quite good. Outside of those subjects, she certainly struggled but always seemed to have it under control. _Wait, Ruby said 'is it easy for you too?' _Pyrrha realized she had missed something. Replaying the scene in her head, it clicked. "Is it because Yang isn't studying?" Ruby shrunk under the question – her red hood was no longer visible over the textbook - which confirmed Pyrrha's suspicions., Still, she decided to tread lightly. "I'm sorry, forget I said anything."

"No, you're right." Ruby finally said after a pause. "I… I just don't get how everyone just sort of passes without having to study. Like, if Weiss decided to skip studying, she'd still probably pass with an A… not that she'd ever skip! Yang rarely studies, but she always passes with at least a B," Ruby huffed dejectedly. "Even when I study super hard, I barely get a C plus if I'm lucky." She looked up at Pyrrha. "I mean, I've been doing better since I've started studying with you, but it still sucks, y'know?"

Pyrrha's lips compressed into a thin line as Ruby moped. _I knew she had problems with studying, but I didn't realize it was quite that bad. It must hurt her pride to ask for help all the time._ "Just because you aren't getting a high grade doesn't mean you aren't progressing," Pyrrha gently suggested. "You were jumped ahead by two years, which means you have a disadvantage compared to all of us… the fact that you are getting C pluses is more impressive than the rest of us getting a perfect grade." Pyrrha got up from her seat, walking around the table and laid a comforting hand on Ruby's shoulder. "If I had been moved ahead, I don't know if I would have even of done half as well."

"Thanks Pyrrha." Ruby may have said it quietly but that hint of despair from before was gone. Her smile - however weak it might have been - told Pyrrha all she needed to know about Ruby's sincerity.

That was something that Pyrrha had noticed about Ruby; whenever something started to get to her, she'd turtle up in her hood until she stopped feeling so stressed. _Although from how red her cheeks were, it may have been from overheating more than anything else_. The important part was that Ruby wasn't despairing anymore, a step in the right direction in Pyrrha's mind.

With that, the two returned to studying.

* * *

_Ren might be able to do some sparring tonight?_

Pyrrha was still trying to figure out what to do with her night. _Ruby is busy, Jaune is on a date… and it's been sometime since Ren and I have sparred._ Ever since the tournament, the two had taken to rather infrequent unarmed sparring matches.

Of all the huntsmen and huntresses that Pyrrha knew, Ren was the best when it came to unarmed combat; therefore, Pyrrha was always quite excited when they had their matches. Everyone had their own weaknesses, and Pyrrha's biggest was the fact her semblance didn't work if her opponent was not using a metal weapon. Usually that wasn't the case, but it never hurt to be safe.

A few keystrokes later and Pyrrha's text message to Ren had been sent. _Right, back to studying for the test_. After the brief interruption, Pyrrha resumed studying with Ruby. They had made major headway through the material and were close to calling it a night - that and the library was about to close.

_Ping!_

Pyrrha blinked in surprise at the new message notification. _That was fast_. Tapping the message, the corners of Pyrrha's mouth drooped. Nora and Ren were currently stuck in detention, although Pyrrha was quite certain that it was more of Nora's doing then Ren's.

The tall redhead's brow furrowed. _My evening is open again, it'd seem. I suppose I could always go train by myself-_

"They got another detention?" Pyrrha had to stop the very sudden urge to jump out of her chair as Ruby spoke right next to her ear.

"Yes, well, Professor Goodwitch is quite strict with deviation from the course work," Pyrrha replied after a moment to still her heart from jumping out of her throat. "Nora is just… energetic is all."

"That sucks." Ruby sadly shook her head as she scanned the contents of Pyrrha's scroll. "Oh, you were going to spar with Ren?" Pyrrha bobbed her head as a big grin spread across Ruby's face. "Y'know, you should spar with me and Yang!"

"Are you sure? I wouldn't want to intrude, and I was going to do hand to ha-"

"Nope! Intrude all you want, it'll be great!" Ruby waved it off as her infectious smile started to spread to Pyrrha.

"I'm looking forward to it the-" The automated notification of the library's closing over the intercom cut through Pyrrha's voice and drawing her eyes to the closest wall mounted one.

"I'll see you at the training room after dinner~!" Ruby happily sang as a pile of rose petals took her now vacant spot.

* * *

Ruby was excited.

The tedious, dreadfully dull, ceaseless studying had finally ended for the day, the cafeteria still had cookies when Ruby got there, and now she was going to spar with her sister and her best friend. That easily outweighed the boring part of the day!

Though, not all of it had been boring. In particular, Ruby liked it when Pyrrha had said some very nice compliments to her. It kinda felt like back at the river, all war-

"Someone seems awfully chipper tonight." Yang's voice shook Ruby out of her thoughts, the blonde strolling up to her with a smirk on her face.

"Duh! No more studying or answering professor Port's questions! Now my sweetheart gets to do the talking!" Ruby couldn't help but pull out Crescent Rose from her holster. _I almost forgot!_ "Oh, um, would it be cool if Pyrrha came too? I kinda-maybe-sorta invited her..."

Yang rolled her eyes as Ruby sheepishly rubbed the back of her neck. "It's fine, Rubes." A mischievous glint entered Yang's lilac eyes. "I call Pyrrha on my team!"

"What-the?!" Ruby blanched at the thought of fighting both Yang and Pyrrha at the same time. "That's no fair! We don't have sides!" _Plus, she'd be on my side anyway since she is _my_ friend!_

"Then how are we gonna do three-person sparring?" Yang inquired with an upraised eyebrow. "Either it's two versus one or someone has to sit out."

"I… uh…" Ruby had clearly not thought this through. "Um… I guess we ask Pyrrha what she thinks."

"Ask me what I think on what?" the familiar, warm voice asked.

"Heya Pyrrha, ready to-" Yang's mouth scrunched up with a quizzical expression, prompting Ruby to turn on the heels of her feet and face the newcomer.

Pyrrha wasn't wearing anything ridiculous, no, but instead of her usual shield, sword and armour, she was wearing a tank-top and shorts. It wasn't like her to forget her equipment.

"I-is something wrong?" Pyrrha asked as the sisters stared at her in mild confusion. "Did I arrive late…?"

"Nope, you got here early," Yang finally responded. "But, uh, ya do know we are sparring right?" To articulate a point, Yang pulled Ember Celica out of its compacted form. "You sorta need your weapons for that."

Pyrrha's emerald eyes went from Yang to Ruby, who was still holding Crescent Rose before widening. "Oh. Oh! I misunderstood, sorry! Let me grab Milo and Akoúo." Pyrrha turned around before jogging off to the locker room.

_Misunderstood?_ Ruby and Yang shared a confused look on their faces as they watched the tall redhead's retreating form. "You _did _tell her we were going to be sparring, right Rubes?"

"Yeah, I think I did?" Ruby's head bobbed in an uncertain nod as she scratched her head. "She was going to spar with Ren, but he's in detention with Nora tonight. I thought it'd be perfect for her to join us instead." _That's what the text said, they were going to do unarmed sparring or some- _"Oops."

"Oops?"

"I think Pyrrha was going to do some hand-to-hand stuff with Ren… instead of weapons sparring."

"Oooooh." Yang's grin stretched from ear to ear. "Actually, that sounds like fun, let's do that instead!"

"What!?" Ruby was not quite prepared for that. While Yang excelled at martial arts, Ruby didn't. In fact, outside of Crescent Rose, she wasn't all that much of a fighter. It wasn't from a lack of trying so much as a lack of interest. _Why punch something when you could slice it in half with a scyther rifle ? _"Pyrrha is already getting her weapons, it'll be fin-"

"Nah, this sounds _way_ better. I'll be right back sis!" Yang jogged off towards the locker room, promptly ignoring what Ruby had been saying..

Ruby had the distinct feeling that she might regret inviting Pyrrha to join them.

* * *

"I call dibs on fighting Pyrrha first!"

"I accept your challenge, Yang." While Pyrrha answered with a smile, Ruby was more than happy to watch her sister and best friend go at it from the sidelines. _At least it should be fun to watch!_

After squaring off in the ring, hands raised, Yang made the first move, going in for a hard right hook off the bat.

Instead of dodging like any sane person would have done –even without Ember Celica, Yang had a mean right hook- Pyrrha stepped closer to the blonde, twisting around and grabbing Yang's arm and throwing the teen over her shoulder. Yang stopped it mid-throw, instead planting her feet on the ground and counter-throwing Pyrrha.

Unlike Yang, Pyrrha went with the motion, sailing through the air before rebounding off the wall towards Yang. What surprised Ruby was the fact that the normally tall redhead was crouching low to the ground as she dashed back. Evidently it surprised Yang too as Pyrrha grabbed onto the blonde's legs and pulled her to the ground in a resounding thud.

Not to be deterred in the slightest, Yang scrambled into a roll and sprung back onto her feet, this time taking a left jab at the redhead. Pyrrha did the opposite, this time backing away from the blonde. Yang threw another jab and Pyrrha strafed right.

Ruby could see the frown creasing Yang's mouth as Pyrrha just kept dodging the blonde's increasingly aggravated punches, her ponytail whipping behind her. It wasn't until Yang gave a low kick that Pyrrha did a different reaction, this time giving a sweeping kick, causing Yang to crash into the ground.

"Y'know, it's kind of annoying when all you do is dodge." Yang huffed as she pulled herself up. She could already seeing Pyrrha start to apologize before cutting her off. "No, no, it's fine, just throw a punch once in awhile, 'kay?"

"Sorry, I keep forgetting that I'm not holding Milo and Akoúo, let me try again!"

Ruby watched as Yang and Pyrrha went at for a few more rounds, Pyrrha getting knocked on her butt next before the fighting broke into a fairly even rounds. It wasn't too long before one of them had decided they had enough. "I'm gonna go get some water. You're up, sis!"

It was with shaky steps that Ruby slowly, almost robotically, found herself in the ring in front of Pyrrha, who adopted a ready stance across from her with open hands. "Whenever you are ready, Ruby."

"O-okay." _It shouldn't be that hard, right?_ Ruby had seen Yang throw enough punches to know the very basics. _I got this, I totally got this!_ Ruby took a few steps forward and threw her left hand out in a fist at Pyrrha's chest. Or at least, that's what Ruby thought she did. Right now all that Ruby could see was the ceiling as she was sprawled out on the mat.

"Are you okay?" The perfect view of the white ceiling was broken by a cascade of red hair and Pyrrha's very concerned eyes followed by soft hands gently trying to rouse her. "Ruby?"

"Y-yeah, I think so?" Ruby felt herself being pulled up into a sitting position as Pyrrha squatted next to her. "What happened?"

"I threw you." Pyrrha absently said as she tried to assess if Ruby was truly okay. "Then you didn't get up for a good minute, so I got worried. How many fingers am I holding up?"

"Uh, three?"

Pyrrha nodded encouragingly. "Correct." Her lips quirked as she gave Ruby one last glance over. "I think you were just a bit dazed is all. Think you can stand?"

"I think?"

"Up we go." Ruby felt herself being pulled off the mat by her friend and led to a nearby chair. "And here we are." Once more, Ruby felt Pyrrha's concerned, emerald eyes focus on her. "If you aren't feeling dizzy for another few minutes, you should be fine."

"Oh. Okay." Ruby dumbly nodded as she listened to her. Pyrrha, meanwhile, pulled up a folding chair next to her. "I'm really bad at that kind of stuff I guess, sorry."

"What kind of stuff?"

"Y'know, wah-pow!" Ruby struck a pose much to Pyrrha's amusement – at least if the poorly suppressed giggle was anything to go by. "The unarmed stuff."

Pyrrha frowned. "I'm sorry, I thought you were more proficient in it, since Yang is so good at it."

"Nope. I'm not exactly… good without my sweetheart." Ruby embarrassedly admitted as she shook her head, it took Pyrrha a moment - at least if the confused expression was anything to go by - to realize that she was referring to Crescent Rose. "All those kung fu moves are more Yang's thing."

"What's more my thing?" Yang curiously asked as she walked over, holding a couple bottles of water. "Did you guys already finish?"

"Um, well, ya see, uh-"

"I may have used just a tad too much force." It was weird hearing Pyrrha act so sheepish to Ruby. "So we decided to sit out for a bit."

Yang merely raised an eyebrow. "Ruby got knocked out in one punch, didn't she?" Pyrrha's silence was telling as the blonde gave a snort. "I'm always telling her she really should try and learn how to fight on her own."

"Every time you try and teach me, all you ever have me do is punch stuff!" Ruby indignantly huffed. "And then you tell me to dodge and suddenly I'm seeing stars."

"I…" Yang held up a finger to disagree before lowering it and giving Ruby a hopeless shrug. "You aren't wrong. Maybe martial arts isn't for you?"

Ruby wilted from the suggestion. "Doesn't matter as long as I have Crescent Rose…" Ruby couldn't help but think back to right before the Breach, when it had mattered. The point when she had fallen into a sinkhole without her beloved weapon. White Fang members had captured her effortlessly, and when Torchwick was right in front of her, Ruby could do nothing.

The experience, being utterly powerless in the face of danger, had been more than terrifying. If her team hadn't showed up she would have been dead right then and the-

"Hey Pyrrha, I noticed that you do mostly throws, right?" Yang's voice pulled Ruby from her thoughts. "And kicks?"

"I do. Punching doesn't come up very often in combat since I'm holding Milo and Akoúo." The red-haired teen's head tilted. "Why do you ask Yang?"

"Your style might fit Rubes better."

Ruby's head perked up, _fit me better? _From when Pyrrha and Yang had been going at it, it looked more or less like they were doing the same moves; just a blur of flailing limbs.

"You might be right." Ruby felt emerald eyes focus on her again. "Ruby, I could try to teach you, if you feel up to it?"

"I… I guess I can? You won't make me dodge, will you?" Ruby glared at Yang who merely stuck out her tongue.

Pyrrha was thoughtfully tapped on her chin. "Mainly we'll be sticking to kicks and throws." Red hair swished as Pyrrha shook her head. "So no, probably no dodging today."

Kicking wouldn't be that bad; if Ruby couldn't do upper body strength to save her life, then perhaps she could made up for it with lots of leg strength. "That doesn't sound too bad," Ruby quietly agreed as she gave her consent. "I'll give it a shot!"

"Let me just get a pair of dummies and we can get started!" The warm smile that was lit across Pyrrha's face made Ruby feel like she'd made the right choice.

Several minutes later, Ruby found herself in her workout clothes, standing on a mat in front of a pair of dummies. Yang was half-paying attention from a chair while Pyrrha seemed to be lost in her thoughts.

Nodding to herself, Pyrrha turned to Ruby. "Okay, I'm going to teach you the most basic kick. It's called 'gastrizein' in Mistralian, but you'd probably know it as a front kick. I am going to show you how to do it, then you try, if that's agreeable?" Ruby nodded as Pyrrha shoo'd her to back up.

Pyrrha turned towards the dummy, dropping slowly into the same fighting stance she'd used against Yang, bouncing on her feet. A few bounces and the calm expression on Pyrrha's face left as her eyebrows furrowed. Taking a half step forwards –it seemed more like a hop then a step to Ruby- the tall teen's left foot went up until Pyrrha's knee was mid-chest before her leg extended. The result was the bottom of Pyrrha's left foot whacking into the dummy, the humanoid shape wobbling before righting itself from the impact.

_That doesn't look too hard_, Ruby idly thought as she watched Pyrrha kick the target a few more times. After the fifth kick, the redhead dropped her stance before turning back to Ruby and simply gesturing over at the other dummy. "Now you try."

The younger girl walked confidently up to the dummy. _It's just a front kick, that's not hard!_ Adopting the same stance that Pyrrha had, or as close as Ruby could get to it, she kicked at the dummy. Unlike when Pyrrha did it, though, the dummy didn't wobble or make much of a satisfying noise from the impact as Ruby found herself stumbling backwards. Ruby was certain she would have hit the ground had Pyrrha not steadied her.

"Um, thanks Pyrrha, did I do okay?" Clearly Ruby was nowhere near Yang or Pyrrha's level, _but this was just a first attempt, maybe I did alright for that?_ Ruby's small level of self-confidence took a hit when she noticed Yang trying her best not to laugh - the mirth still clearly visible in her eyes regardless of the lack of actual laughter. _That answers that._

"Ruby, you-" Pyrrha stopped as hopeful silver eyes stared up at her. "You kick good." The short teen felt a comforting hand rest on her shoulder as Ruby felt heat rise to her face from the compliment. "But we could improve it."

"Oh." For a moment Ruby forgot that Yang was laughing out loud a few feet away as emerald eyes stared encouragingly at her. It was feeling rather warm all the sudden for Ruby, despite the tank top and shorts that she was wearing.

"You just need some practice and you'll be better, I know it." The comfortable weight left Ruby's shoulder as Pyrrha took a couple of steps back. "This time, go into a ready stance and we'll start from there."

"O-okay." Ruby slowly got into a stance as the room slowly dropped a few degrees back to normal, _that was really weird_. Hands half raised in fists as she stood at a slant, facing the target almost sideways, knees bent and legs shoulder width apart, Ruby looked back at Pyrrha. "Like this?"

"Close, but not quite... here." The muffled pitter-patter of footsteps on the mat was the only indication Ruby had of Pyrrha walking up to her before a pair of hands gripped her shoulders and started to turn her. "That's closer to what Yang's style is, which is good if you are punching like a boxer. The system I use, however, is more reliant on throws or takedowns, so you have to be ready to switch to a frontal stance." Pyrrha gently turned her until Ruby was only slightly off-kilter. "There we go. Does that all make sense?"

Pyrrha's words were going in one ear and out the other; - something involving facing slightly off center or something. Ruby's attention was instead pulled to the sudden welling of heat in her, like if she had one too many blankets on. _But I'm wearing less I usually am, I should be cold, not hot!_ Trying to focus on what Pyrrha was saying, Ruby lamely nodded her head. "Um, yeah sure."

"Good, now you want your arms up." Ruby felt Pyrrha's hands let go of her shoulders, only for a muffled step later, Pyrrha's chest to press lightly against her back. Long arms stretched out to gently pull Ruby's half-raised hands up from waist height to mid-chest height. "You want your arms up so you could block a strike to the head or chest or even your neck..."

That warmth in the short redhead's body went from feeling mildly uncomfortable to alarming as Pyrrha's voice started to get tuned out of Ruby's head by the obscenely loud beating of her own heart. It felt different, not like the feeling she might get when sick or in a sauna, yet at the same time, it felt familiar. Very familiar. Almost exactly like when Pyrrha had carried Ruby along the river.

Yet the sensation was foreign to Ruby as she felt her body flush. Her heart was pounding loudly, and she felt very out of breath all the sudden as she became very acutely aware just how close Pyrrha was to her. The small little breaths she took as the tall teen whispered instructions into Ruby's ear, the fact Pyrrha's thinly clothed and rather _generous_ chest was pressed up against Ruby's bare upper back.

It made Ruby feel dizzy as her pulse beat like a war drum, drowning out whatever Pyrrha was saying. There was one overriding sensation, one that was the hardest to ignore, more so than all the points of contact between the two, her heart beat or even Pyrrha's breath.

While Ruby kept comparing the sensation to heat, that wasn't quite the right term – the warmth came after the feeling. No, it was this itchy feeling that Ruby feel uncomfortable, like something down in her was far tighter than it should be. Then it had ever been.

The sensation made her feel tense, like her whole body was constricting and she didn't have the faintest idea as to why. Why she felt like this, heck, even what this was.

The prospect that she had no control over it was terrifying to Ruby.

_What is going on?! Why is this suddenly feeling all weird, how- why?! _Ruby's thoughts raced through her at a speed that put her semblance to shame. _Why does my body feel like it's burning? Am I sick? Did I eat something that went bad? Is it bec-_

"Ruby?" The sudden appearance of very concerned emerald eyes in front of the panicking teen made nearly made her fall over. "Ruby, are you alright?"

Words weren't coming to Ruby in the face of those eyes, and her throat felt tight and constricted. "I-I-I don't know?" Ruby finally croaked out as Yang worriedly started to hover around the two. The feeling, that itch, the uncomfortableness started to slowly subside.

The feeling was abating ever so slowly as Yang and Pyrrha exchanged worried glances with each other before Yang started to check Ruby over, carefully leading her over to a chair. "I think you might be done for the day. Rubes." Her big sister gave Pyrrha a glance. "I know I joked about Ruby getting knocked out in a hit, but are you sure that you didn't hit her too hard?"

"I-I don't believe it was that hard? All I did was a shoulder throw, she didn't get up after that so we stopped." Pyrrha glanced from Ruby to Yang and back again. "I didn't hurt you, did I Ruby?" Pyrrha's voice sounded mortified.

Ruby felt lame for only shaking her head, but forced herself to speak as it was clear that Pyrrha was starting to blame herself. "It's not you… I just feel really… off. Maybe Yang's right." Stiffly Ruby got up and started to meander over towards the locker room to change back into her normal clothes. "I-I think I'm gonna head back to the room for the night."

"Do you want me to help you back?" Pyrrha asked quietly. "It's getting late anyway and my room is next to your guys' dorm anyway…"

"I'm feeling better now." Ruby's voice had a bit of confidence back into it as she was truly starting to feel normal again. It was clear the normal chipper-ness in her voice put Yang and Pyrrha at ease, if only a little judging by how they visually relaxed, however slight. "I think I can make it."

* * *

The moment that Ruby was back in her dorm, she face planted into her bed.

All indicators were starting to point to something she was sincerely not liking, something that had become abundantly clear as Ruby had mulled over in the shower. The heat, the sensations… she'd seen it a number of times in her friends at Signal, and especially with Yang. It was textbook, really.

_Nope_! Ruby mentally shouted to herself, even going as far as covering her ears with a pillow. _It's not that, it can't be that… that'd be impossible!_ Simple as that.

Yet the explanation answered what exactly Ruby was feeling gave an answer that Ruby could not possibly accept.

_It's just not possible!_

* * *

Editor: ASouthernRussian

* * *

Author's Note: I LIVE! Oh, and Ruby is getting all kinds of feelz and is confused. Ahhhh shipping.

A big thing to note, is that the part where Ruby is essentially feeling _something_, I don't know if this was done okay or just seemed like an alien wrote it... did I do okay?

Now you can probably tell what I meant when I said I jumped the gun early last chapter. NOW THE SHIPPING WILL COMMENCE IN EARNEST!…also yes, there is a reason she is feeling this all of a sudden. It will be explained in good time :D

Can I just point out to everyone that Acceptance is now the most followed Pyrrha-ship! Arkos has been beaten out with this crazy little ship on the site! HUZZAH!

Couple of house keeping things before I get rambletastic about what took so long for this to come out.

First, THERE IS NOW ART OF THE STORY! :D

Seriously, I'm commissioning a piece of art for each chapter from Jo3mm. Chapter 1 is the new story cover and the second chapter's art was just finished yesterday if you want to see! Just google Jo3mm and RWBY and you should be able to find his DA page pretty quick!

Second, I AM SO SORRY FOR NOT RESPONDING TO THE REVIEWS! D:

Life, as I'll explain got ahead of me and that's why only maybe five or six people got responses to their reviews. I totally read them, just never got around to responding which I usually try and do.

They really do mean a lot to me, and I feel just terrible for not responding to them because of life. I will really try and get better at this. Serious this time because it was pathetic when I don't respond at all.

Thirdly, chapter 20 release date.

Oh boy, I am so uncertain about this. I'm going to shoot for the first Friday of April, if not the second Friday. I am currently competing in the RWBY subreddit's monthly fanfic challenge and am writing a rather long story for it, so that will eat into my time this month greatly which is why I'm so uncertain about a release date.

I'll try to get it out in early April, but no promises? At the very least, it should be sooner than this wait.

Be warned, this might get a tad rambly, and I'm only slightly sorry for that :P

OKAY SO IT'S BEEN LIKE TWO MONTHS WHEN I SAID IT'D BE ONLY ONE, WHAT HAPPENED?!

I need to answer this.

Remember in the author's note for the last chapter, I said "Though, in my outline this was supposed to be next chapter (which is now two chapters from now), but then again, that chapter was originally this chapter. My outline is confusing sometimes."?

Well, what happened was I had decided to do a chapter concept that wasn't in my outline between the Vacation chapter and this chapter. Problematically, that chapter did NOT pan out. Wait, that wasn't even the first thing that went wrong either. After I posted the last chapter I was rather sick for two weeks, one week spent mostly stuck in bed and feeling like crap. So when I finally was feeling well enough to write Acceptance… I had only two weeks left. I did a stupid thing when I tried to force the concept I had to work without even realizing it'd change every part of the story and I couldn't even get it to work in that chapter in the first place.

I was feeling sorta burned out and decided to take a week off… and then fucking canon happened.

They killed my muse.

Fuck man, that screwed me up for a good week at least – almost two. I'll try and keep the ranting to a minimal about that, but basically it hurt me in ways that are still hard for me to come to terms with.

Before anyone asks, I don't blame them [RoosterTeeth] for anything nor am I going to deny what happened.

Basically we, as a fanfic community, tell stories. What RoosterTeeth does is tell stories. That's what they do. I've had people tell me I'm writing my story wrong and I have very choice words to say about those people which I will refrain from uttering in public. These are my stories and I want to tell them how I intend to tell them. Why should it be any different for RoosterTeeth?

Moreover then that, as cheesy as this sounds, Pyrrha would rather people move on then just stay in a ball of bitter rage. Keep moving forward is the phrase I believe.

Am I going to keep writing stories? Yes, albeit my fluff will probably suffer for it. There was a moment where I had told myself if they killed Pyrrha, I would finish my stories and leave. I don't think that's the case now, so no need to worry about that :P

Also, thank you to everyone who sent me messages and reviews worrying for me or encouraging me. It means more than I can express and while I didn't respond to most of them, I just didn't know how to accurately show how much they made me feel. Like, the ones I did reply to, I did in tears. That's how much you guys and gals moved me :D

RIGHT OKAY, THAT'S IT, Go enjoy the omakes now!

Thank you all for reading and putting up with me for as long as you have, have a great day everyone! :D

* * *

**Omake I:**

"There can only be one."

It was with those words that had led to Yang challenging Ren to find out who was the best martial artists amongst their friends group.

For some reason that escaped Pyrrha, they had decided the match must take place at dawn. As interested as Pyrrha was in watching the match, she had opted to get sleep instead of attending it, a sentiment shared by everyone besides Nora.

Now, however it was breakfast and the two had yet to show up – three if one included Nora. So it was with curiosity that Pyrrha made the trek to the training arena. This early on a Sunday morning, no one was using it besides the missing trio, so when Pyrrha walked in, the sight that greeted her was… surprising, to say the least.

The arena was in tatters, massive craters littered the ground, parts of the stands had huge dents in them – _are those fist indentations?_ – and most of the rubble was on fire. Somehow.

_I thought they weren't going to use their weapons? How do you get fire from just punching and kicking?!_

"Hiya Pyrrha!" Nora's singsong voice rang out from the stands, the bubbly redhead holding a half-eaten popcorn container. "You just missed the match!"

"Just missed it…?" Pyrrha shook her head. "Nora, didn't they start three hours ago?"

"Yup, Yang was really good! But so was Ren so it took a while."

"Speaking of which, where is he?" Yang was half passed out against a wall, mumbling something that made it clear to Pyrrha that the infirmary would be getting at least one new patient today.

"Oh, he is up there!" Pyrrha followed where Nora was pointing to the ceiling, where a very unconscious Ren was hanging from the rafters.

"I…what… how?" Nora just shrugged her shoulders as Pyrrha resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of her nose. "Well, who won?"

"They tied!" The sudden glee in Nora's eyes was very concerning all of the sudden. "Rematch is next Sunday!"

* * *

**Omake II:**

"Wait a front kick?"

Yang had gotten up from her chair and was staring curiously at Pyrrha as she stood in front of the practice dummy. "That's super basic, why not a side kick, or a jump kick or a flying spin kick?"

"Because all you need is a front kick."

"But-"

"THIS. IS. SPARTA!" Yang gets front kicked through a wall by an irate Pyrrha.

"What's a Sparta?"

* * *

**Omake III - ****Guest author: Super Saiyan Cyndaquil****:**

_Click_

Jaune lazily opened a single, tired eye to glance at his girlfriend who lay next to him, or at least should've been. Instead, he found her kneeling on the grass of the hilltop, face obstructed by her prized camera.

"Sorry, did I wake you?" Velvet grinned bashfully as she peeked around the side of the device.

"Nah…" Jaune shook his head, feeling the blond hair on the back of his head rub against the forearms he crossed behind him in a makeshift pillow. "It was more like a meditation, or something." That's what Ren always called it, right?

"You certainly looked quite peaceful." She didn't press it any further as the camera disappeared back into the box she kept it in. After, she curled up next to him, resting both arms over his waist and snuggling a cheek to his chest. The tip of her bunny ears tickled his chin but he didn't mind as he pulled one arm out from behind him and unconsciously began drawing little circles on her back.

"Yeah… this is nice." It wasn't often they got such beautiful weather such as this on a day off. The wind wasn't too harsh, but just gentle enough that it felt good as it filtered between exposed toes and tickled the blond bangs on his forehead. In contrast, the warm rays of sunlight provided a comfortable balance that made it perfect to just laze about outside. "So what are you going to do with that picture?"

"Hmm…" He could feel Velvet's voice vibrate softly against his chest as she thought about the question. "I'll probably develop that one. It'll make a good memory."

He gave a small snort of mirth. "You say that about all the pictures you take of me." Her head shifted and he knew her eyes were gazing up at his face curiously. "You saying you don't want to copy my sword and board style with your Semblance?"

Velvet must have realized he was teasing and not actually troubled by the question. In the past, she would've stuttered out a million excuses to make him feel better. Now, she just giggled along with him. "If I was going to copy a sword and shield, I would just use the pictures I have taken of Pyrrha. Her sword is also a rifle, after all. Quite a bit more function than yours."

"Ouch. That stings, you know." Jaune clutched his chest with the other hand and let out a groan of mock pain, succeeding in making his girlfriend giggle even louder.

"Should I kiss the wound to make it feel better?" She scooted up and shifted, pressing her body down on top of him.

"You can't simply kiss a man's pride-"

He was cut off as a warm pair of lips pressed down on his own. Despite himself, he leaned into the kiss, cupping Velvet's back a little more tightly as he pulled her into him. As she pulled back, there was a slightly mischievous smirk to her lips. "You were saying?"

"Huh. Well, I guess that does remove some of the sting." She rolled her eyes as he grinned back up. "Maybe… one more and it'll be all better?"

"Uh huh." She gave a small snort of laughter…

...before leaning down for another kiss.


	20. Chapter 20: Natural

**Chapter Twenty: Natural**

* * *

Ruby's thoughts were wandering.

It was a phenomenon that tended to happen a lot during her morning classes, where the battle was to stay awake as Professor Port droned on. Invariably, her thoughts drifted back to the feeling.

At first, Ruby had thought that if she'd ignored it, the feeling would eventually just go away. Sure, it had come so suddenly, but it had only happened twice. Still, it'd started to manifest itself in other, subtler ways.

Little things had started to emerge after the sparring match. Gawking at Pyrrha every so often. Blushing at the little compliments Pyrrha gave her. Or even just feeling good, unusually good, around her best friend.

Ruby was confused at first, though as the weeks started to drag on, she had an inkling. It was one that she was starting to dread if it was what she thought it could be. A small part of Ruby's mind was starting to question if these little things had always been there and she was only just starting to notice them.

Yet, her guess made sense; the warmth, the fact that she felt herself drawn towards Pyrrha in a very literal sense whenever she was in the room… these led to an simple conclusion. Ruby didn't like it at all.

_I don't have a crush on Pyrrha_. There was no way it was possible.

It wasn't some kneejerk reaction, either. It wasn't like Ruby didn't know what attraction was like,_ I'm a smart cookie after all! _

Ruby had gone through those painfully dull weeks back in Signal when the teachers would talk about the birds and the bees and the new stuff she'd feel as a teenager. That warmth, the sensation of feeling tight, what it was like to have a crush on someone… how'd they'd feel like the happiest person in the world and that they might even have sex…

Except as the years went on, Ruby never felt that way. At first Ruby had been worried when those sensations never came to her, but it never really caused her a great deal of stress. In fact, a long time ago, she'd made peace with the fact that _it_ might just not be her thing. That was something Ruby was comfortable with. It was a concept that was never challenged throughout her two years at Signal or even her first year at Beacon.

Which was why it wasn't possible that she could have a crush on Pyrrha. Ruby just simply did not feel attraction like that, from her experience.

That didn't change the fact that Ruby was feeling something, that spending time with Pyrrha made her heart beat faster and her cheeks blush or even just be far more giggly than normal. The signs couldn't have been more textbook. The dots were connecting, and Ruby was wishing they weren't.

_I could always test it?_ The thought lazily fluttered into her head. A small smile stretched across Ruby's face as she did a lazy sketch of Weiss on a unicycle before stealthily tossing it to the adjacent table.

Nearly a minute passed before Pyrrha noticed the wadded-up piece of paper and opened it. Immediately, she stifled a laugh before turning towards Ruby and giving a quick wave and a smile.

Ruby felt heat start to rise in her cheeks as emerald eyes briefly locked onto her own, tinging them with a faint red blush as Ruby could not for the life of her keep a straight face. She suddenly became very interested in her notes and averted her gaze.

_Oh no, I do have a crush on her. _

At the very least, that meant Ruby had been right about what the feelings meant. On the other hand, that made her even more confused than before.

It also meant that the comfortableness she had with her sexuality had been thoroughly shattered. _I didn't think I liked anyone like that!_ The signs had never popped up as she grew up; in fact, it just seemed natural that they wouldn't ever come up.

Except now they had. _So what does that make me? Does that mean I have to deal with… with this stuff now?_ Ruby groaned out loud, earning a small glance from her partner and a nudge to pay attention to the lecture. That wasn't going to happen anytime soon,_ sorry Weiss._

_Actually, does this really change anything? _Just because she felt good around Pyrrha didn't mean Ruby had to exactly act on her crush., In fact, there was nothing compelling her to even want to act on it besides herself. The possibility that nothing was truly different brought a small smile to Ruby's lips. _Maybe this isn't so bad…? I just don't have to act on it, and it'll be fine!_

_I just need to pretend I don't have a crush on Pyrrha every time we hang out, and not act weird at all. Yup, totally can do that! _Ruby's small smile drooped down into a frown.

…_this is going to ruin our friendship, isn't it?_

That possibility was beyond terrifying for Ruby. She didn't want the fun times they shared to be over in an instant all because of her stupid crush.

Who would step into Pyrrha's place then? Weiss? The only reason that Weiss was required to talk to Ruby was because they were partners. Something like friendship did come from that, but definitely not at first. Even then, they were partners first and friends second.

What about Jaune? Jaune had been in the same situation as Ruby had been when they first met: confused and friendless. They may both have had a lot of shared interests, such as video games or anime, but that wasn't enough. For one, Jaune for the life of him could not keep up with her weapons talk. Ruby felt bad for feeling this way - _he still doesn't know the difference between a full tang and no tang weapon! -_ but she couldn't deny that having conversations with Jaune about her true passion was difficult at best. Besides, nowadays he was all caught up with the girl he was texting during class.

No, Pyrrha was irreplaceable. Ruby found in her someone who she could truly act like a complete dork around; Pyrrha might not be as well-versed as Ruby was, but she could talk shop about the latest weapon modifications and was always willing to try new hobbies, like gaming or origami. Unlike with Weiss, where circumstance forced them to be together, Ruby and Pyrrha both wanted to spend time with one another. They helped each other out when they were at their low points, like the fiasco involving Jaune or when Ruby felt like an utter failure after the Breach.

Perhaps that was why Ruby had felt she could call Pyrrha her best friend. Perhaps that was one of the reasons why she'd gotten a crush on her. Ruby had found a level of acceptance in someone that she'd never even imagined before.

And that was going to disappear into the wind because of a dumb crush?

_No. That's not going to happen_. Ruby's bout of hopelessness was replaced by determination. _I'm not going to let my friendship fall apart because of me! There has to be something I can do!_

_I should probably talk to someone about this. _

That was becoming abundantly clear as Ruby chewed it over. The real question was: who to talk to?

The go-to person would be Pyrrha normally, except given what the issue was about, that was probably not for the best. That would naturally leave her teammates.

For some reason, Ruby just couldn't quite imagine that Weiss would have very good advice or be all that able to relate it. Blake was all those problems plus the fact that Ruby wasn't the closest with their sole faunus teammate. That just left Yang. While Ruby did feel like she could talk to her sister about her crush, it still felt like Yang wouldn't be able to relate to it fully - she'd never had a crush on her best friend.

_Who else could I go to then? I can't talk to Pyrrha or any of my teammates. I guess I could talk to Yang…_ A name bubbled to the surface of her thoughts. _That's perfect!_

Ruby did know someone who could relate to having a crush on a best friend. How did she not think of her sooner?

* * *

The dorm room door swung open moments after a knock.

"Oh! Hiya Ruby! You just missed Pyrrha, she just left to go help our fearless leader train!" A bubbly, orange-haired teen scratched her head. "I think they'll be back in an hour?"

"O-oh, well actually, I was hoping to talk to you."

Nora tilted her head in a curious manner. "Me?" Her confusion melted into a big smile before pulling Ruby into the room. "Well, come right on in!"

Despite all the time that Ruby spent with Pyrrha, she'd spent very little of it in the JNPR dorm. Unlike team RWBY's dorm, they'd arranged the beds with two on one side of the room, backed against a corner and the other two on the opposite side. The other half of the room had desks lining the wall.

Nora plopped down on a bed – presumably her own – before patting down a spot on the closest bed. "What didya want to talk about?"

Ruby awkwardly walked over and slowly sat down under Nora's inquisitive gaze. "Um." Ruby felt the distinct urge to pull her hood over her head, but she resisted. _I just need to say it out loud and then it'll be out there. Yeah, that's all!_ However, that was easier said than done. Instead, Ruby opted for a different approach. "What's it like to feel in love with someone?"

Nora's mouth gaped for a handful of seconds before adopting a faint smile, a sad light entering her eyes. "It's amazing. Like it's the same but still brand new!" Nora jumped up from her seat. "I can't help my heart from racing, my mind goes fast and my knees start shaking!" Ruby found herself nodding along as Nora continued. "It's like my stomach does flips, and my brain does flo-!"

Barely perceivable sadness that tinged Nora's voices left as she looked down at Ruby, now with a very different expression. One that made Ruby realize how much she'd been blushing from Nora's description. "Wait, are you…?" Blue eyes widened in surprise. "Who do you have a crush on? Is it Weiss?!" When Ruby failed to react, Nora suggested another name. "Pyrrha?!"

Ruby felt her cheeks reddened from heat as she finally pulled the hood over her head. _Darn it, she's already onto me. This wasn't how I thought it'd go!_ "…maybe?"

When Ruby finally lifted up the hood enough to see out of it, she was startled by Nora's face being more than a little close to her own, a huge smile stretched across it. "Did you want advice on asking her out?"

The thought hadn't even entered Ruby's mind as she slowly shook her head, which seemed to drain the excitement in Nora's eyes. "I'm not going to ask her out."

The smile turned upside down into a frown. "Aww, why not?"

"I-I-I don't want to ruin what we have…"

"Oh." Nora deflated as she backed away, as Ruby finally pull off her hood. What was surprising to Ruby, was the fact that Nora had let it go so easily.

"We're best friends and I've never had one before, and it's so great being with her, b-but now I'll act weird around her... I'd be happy just staying the way it is now." Ruby helplessly looked at Nora. "How do you do it?"

Even if Ruby had missed Pyrrha having a crush on Jaune, there was no way she'd missed Nora's crush on Ren. That was obvious, even to Ruby. Yet Nora's brow furrowed like she had no clue what Ruby was talking about. "How do I do what?"

"H-how do you and Ren stay friends even though you have a crush on him?" The words came unbidden out of Ruby's mouth before she clamped her hands over her lips instinctively. _I didn't mean to say that out loud!_

"Oooh, that?" Understanding dawned on Nora. "That's easy, just act like you always do!"

"Buh-wha?" Nora had said it so simply that Ruby could not believe she heard it right.

"Yup!" Curious eyes stared back at Ruby. "Why would you act any differently? It's how you feel, after all."

"Won't Pyrrha realize something is wrong when I start acting all, um, funny?" That made sense; Pyrrha was a perceptive person, and if Ruby started to avoid her or act giggly or whatever someone did when they had a crush, she would notice.

Nora shook her head. "Nope! You'll just be acting yourself - how's that funny?"

"B-but won't I be weird because I like her? Like, if she bumps into me or hugs me and I start feeling, um, nice, won't she be weirded out?" Ruby found the blush hadn't left her as she swore her cheeks were redder than her cloak.

"It'd be odder if you tried to act like you didn't have a crush." Nora's smile faded. "When I tried to do that, it just made Ren worry that something was wrong. So I stopped because it made him worry!"

Clearly Ruby didn't look convinced as Nora continued. "That's what I thought at first; if I let myself act like I was in love it was going to drive Ren away from me… but when I did, it felt all unnatural and Ren kinda thought I was avoiding him." The ginger had a large frown and looked like she was about to cry from reliving the memory, before flashing Ruby – perhaps a little forced – a grin. "That's why I just act like how I am!"

_That makes sense_. Ruby knew that if Pyrrha started to act differently, she would probably worry too. "But that doesn't change the fact that I have a crush on her…"

"That's not such a bad thing, is it?"

"Of course it's bad!" How could it be anything _but_ bad? "Even if I don't try and hide it, it doesn't change the fact that I feel _different_." Nora raised an eyebrow, prompting Ruby to go on. "I didn't think that I was into this sort of thing. Like-liking other people…"

Nora nodded sagely before sitting down on the bed next to Ruby. "Is Pyrrha your first crush?" Nora asked after a few seconds pause.

"It's not that." Ruby half-heartedly waved off the question. "More, like, I've never really felt… _attracted_ to someone before. It's weird." The younger girl gave a soft sigh before slumping against Nora. "It really is freaking me out, y'know?"

An arm reached around Ruby as Nora pulled the fretting teen into a half hug, her mouth compressing into a thin line. "You're really worried it's going to ruin your guys' friendship, aren't you?"

Ruby gave a quick nod. "Y-yeah. Pyrrha's the closest friend I've ever had, er, ever. She's my best friend. I don't want that to change. I don't wanna lose what I have."

"You won't lose her." Nora's voice had become hard – not necessarily harsh, but firm. It had a quality to it that Ruby had never heard from her before. "I haven't lost Ren, and I've had a crush on him for years. Heck, he even knows that I have a crush on him now and he's still my best friend!"

The hug ended as Ruby zipped up and off the bed in surprise. "Wait he does?!" Ruby was shocked - _then how come they aren't actually together-together?_

"Yup!" Nora gave a nod. "I actually sorta-kinda-confessed!" A faint blush turned into a more pronounced shade of red as Nora gave a huge sigh of relief. "Hehe, you're the first I've told that to…"

Ruby could only blink as she stared dumbstruck at Nora. "B-but I thought you never told Re- _are_ you actually together-_together_?"

"Nope!" This time Nora shook her head. "It was actually sort of a relief when I did get it off my chest." Nora snorted in a rather un-Nora way. "It had been terrifying when I realized I had a crush on him. I thought it'd drive him away and make him abandon me."

One corner of her lips quirked upwards. "I guess I was being silly thinking that I was going to drive him away, so after while I thought, 'What if Ren feels this way about me?' So I asked." Nora's head hung low as she went on. "We talked for a long time about it too, but…" Nora started to idly fidget with her gloves.

"Ren is all I got. We don't even have a place to go back to." Nora gave a harsh laugh. "We've always been orphans, but at least we have each other. Sure, we have Jaune and Pyrrha now, but I've known Ren forever… he's been my partner before we ever had initiation. My best friend. I notice when he's worried or sick, just like how he notices whenever I'm acting different. We didn't want that to change for anything…" Nora trailed off. It wasn't until a concerned Ruby laid a comforting hand on her shoulder that she looked up with a start.

"That's why we aren't together-together, probably will never be too." The smile that graced Nora's lips was far sadder than it ever should be. "If he ever asked me, I'd probably say 'yes' in a heartbeat, but until then we're best friends." The smile lost some of its sadness. "I think talking about it made our friendship stronger, though. After a while, the feelings started to feel less, um, intense? Like, they're still there, but it's a lot easier now!"

Nora's smile seemed more genuinely happy as she bounced off the bed and onto her feet, doing a small turnaround before turning back towards Ruby. "You are going to be fine! Just be yourself - that's how it always worked for me, anyway! I've had a crush on my best friend for years, and we're still friends."

_Just be yourself_. Ruby mulled over what Nora had said_. I just need to act like myself and everything will be fine? I mean, that does sound easy. _More than just easy, it sounded almost too easy. Skepticism aside, the simplicity of the solution was the reason of why it worked. That wasn't the only thought that Ruby was processing, however.

The terror that Nora mentioned resonated with Ruby. Abandonment. In a span of months, a very casual friendship had turned into something that had become so integral to Ruby's life that the thought of not being friends with Pyrrha was an idea that the young girl could not entertain. Which was why Ruby was going to make it work.

_If Nora could keep her friendship with Ren, why can't I do the same with Pyrrha?_ The more and more that Ruby thought about it, the less panicked she felt. _I just need to act natural, I can do that!_ While the thought helped, there was still some lingering, nagging little doubt in her head. True, Nora would never lead Ruby astray, but it was possible that their situations were too different for the advice to be completely applicable. _Pyrrha could always notice something is up…_

A new thought bubbled up; _what if we talked it out?_ From what Nora had said, it had made her situation a lot better. The only difference was, well, _I've only been friends with Pyrrha for a few months, while Nora and Ren have known each other for years! Their friendship is probably a lot stronger than ours… _Talking it out with Pyrrha could have the opposite effect, and could destroy their friendship instead of strengthening it.

On one hand, it could destroy their friendship, while on the other, admitting she had a crush on Pyrrha to the redhead herself could also possibly strengthen it. Still, she felt better by leaps and bounds now.

"Thanks Nora." Ruby pulled the teen into a hug, one that Nora returned with a strength that reminded her of Yang.

"Anytime Ruby!"

* * *

Editor/BETA: ASouthernRussian

* * *

AU: I am going to keep this brief.

In essence what happened was that both me and my editor/BETA did not do an adequate job with this chapter and essentially treated Ruby like a child. That was wrong on many levels and I am sorry about that more then you could believe.

So here we go, a significantly better version of chapter 20! Chapter 21 will be out tomorrow!

I've included the previous version of the chapter under this for reference for those who really liked it.

* * *

**Omake – Guest author: Super Saiyan Cyndaquil:**

Why her?

Had Velvet done something in a previous life to deserve this kind of strange and unusual punishment?

That punishment being having to sit awkwardly at the table of a local diner, while facing down Jaune's eldest (and arguably most terrifying) sister. It might not have been so bad if the older woman would say something; instead of just giving her that pointed stare, lips tucked in a thin line and arms crossed.

"So… Velvet was it?" On second thought, Velvet prefered it when she wasn't talking. That dry tone filled with barely restrained anger was enough to make the rabbit faunus want to run back to Beacon and hide behind Yatsuhashi.

Why was it taking Jaune so long to get here? How did she even let him talk her into going ahead of him in the first place? There was something very wrong with this picture. He should definitely be here with her right now! That way he could be the one to talk to her. Speaking of which, she should probably say something right about now.

"Y-yes! My name is Velvet!" Way to be articulate. Wonderful work. Jaune's eldest sister looked equally unimpressed as she cocked a purple eyebrow. It felt like her orange eyes were burning a hole right into Velvets soul, leaving her completely exposed before this woman. "And you- you're Violet, correct?"

"That I am." Finally, the Arc woman took her gaze off Velvet, turning her nose down to a cup of black coffee. She lifted the small white container, pushing back her purple ponytail as she sipped lightly at the dark liquid. "Jaune tells me you're studying to become a Huntress." Violet started after setting the cup down. Was small talk a good sign or a bad one? Velvet was really hoping for good.

"He and I met at Beacon." Either way, she nodded along quickly. "I understand you are a Huntress too."

Violet snorted. "I _used _to be a Huntress. First and only one since our great grandfather. Although that will change pretty soon if Jaune manages not to get killed before graduation."

Velvet tilted a head curiously. She didn't really understand; Violet looked able-bodied and she couldn't have been any older than twenty-five. "Why… did you quit?"

"Because it was filling Jaune's head with silly ideas." Violet leaned an elbow on the table, resting her chin in the open palm of her hand. "I became a Huntress to protect my family from the Grimm. Not to convince my younger brother to go out and get killed by them."

"Jaune is stronger than that!" Velvet blurted without even having a chance to think about what she was going to say.

"Jaune had to fake his transcripts just to get accepted. Do you know that?" Velvet's ears deflated and she gave a small nod. Violet didn't sound particularly angry when she said that, but rather tired. She then gave a long sigh. "Our parents don't even know. They just thought somehow it was that easy to get accepted. Of course, they expected him to drop out after the first couple weeks too. I'm the only one who discovered the truth and that's only because it was _my_ transcripts he stole and edited."

There was a tidbit Velvet didn't know before. She had always wondered how Jaune had managed to get his hands on something convincing enough to trick his way in. She supposed it just went to show: The best lies contain a hint of truth to them. It was because of that lie Jaune once told, however, that she ever got to meet him. "Jaune… has made many mistakes."

"That's an understatement." Violet scoffed, but Velvet wasn't done just yet.

"He's also done a lot of good. I- I don't think Jaune would have ever needed to steal your transcripts if someone from his family had just believed in him to begin with."

"That's a nice sentimentality. It takes more than just good feelings to survive out in the real world, however."

"I don't think that's true." Velvet breathed in deep, hiking up her shoulders and turning to look the eldest Arc sister right in the eyes. "Jaune is only alive now because his friends, his teammates, and his partner believe in him. If they didn't, then they wouldn't rally behind him. I believe in Jaune too… and I love him. So if he ever needs my help, I will never hesitate to give it. Just like I know he'll do for me."

"..." Violet didn't say anything right away, instead staring at her intently with the same unwavering gaze as before. Velvet again felt like her whole character was being tested by that gaze, but this time she did not give an inch, determined to show how much she meant what she just said.

Finally, Violet broke eye-contact first, once again to take a sip from her coffee. "Not bad; could be better, but certainly not the worst." She gave an almost accepting nod and placed the cup back down. "My little brother really knows how to pick 'em. Which is more than can be said for some of our other sisters."

Wait a second… was that actually a test just now? "W-what would have happened if you didn't like my answer?" The grin Violet gave after Velvet asked that question would give her nightmares for weeks. As would the answer.

"The same thing that happened to all the other girls who thought they were good enough for my little brother."

* * *

**ORIGINAL CHAPTER TWENTY**

* * *

**Chapter Twenty: Confusion**

* * *

Ruby was starting to have second thoughts as she waited nervously for Jaune to show up.

_Maybe if I just ignore the feeling, it'll just go away… then I won't have to talk to anyone about it!_ As lovely as the idea was, it had become increasingly clear that wasn't going to happen, as _that_ feeling kept popping up.

It'd been a few days since the unarmed sparring; Ruby and Pyrrha had thrown themselves headlong into the semester's first gauntlet of tests. But once the tests had ended and Ruby's mind had no longer been occupied by the countless laws Vacuo had about wasting water, there was no more ignoring that persistent sensation.

Ruby opted to finally talk to someone about it. Naturally her first choice would have been Pyrrha… though considering how the funny feeling only seemed to get worse around her best friend, Ruby decided that perhaps this was not the best idea. Maybe she should find someone else who was easy to talk to and was understanding… someone like Jaune.

It was for this reason that Ruby was sitting in a secluded study room in the library, which she had checked out in order to have some private time with Jaune. The clumsy blonde was running late as usual, which gave Ruby plenty of time for second thoughts.

_What if I'm just imagining this feeling? There could be nothing wrong with me, except for just being a weirdo… why is it happening only around Pyrrha, anyway? It's not like anything has really changed - we're still good friends! How come I'm not feeling stuff like that when Weiss changes or something? Or Bla-_

"Hey, sorry I'm late!" Jaune's entrance pulled Ruby's attention away from staring a hole into the study table and to the new arrival. "Velvet wanted to talk to me for a moment. Yeah."

Ruby couldn't repress a snicker; Jaune and Velvet had been acting really lovey-dovey ever since the semester break had ended – the time when Velvet made Jaune lunch and arranged the contents of his meal in the shape of his family emblem came to mind. "Hey Jaune."

The chair made a muffled sound as Jaune dragged it across the carpeted floor so he could sit down, his school bag dropping down with a soft plop next to him. "So, what did you want to talk about?"

"…uh." Ruby's silver eyes widened as she realized that she had no idea how to vocalize what she had been feeling. "I've been feeling… _weird_."

"Weird." Jaune echoed back, as if the statement made so much sense that no further elaboration was needed. However, Ruby could see in Jaune's concentrated gaze and pursed lips that this was not enough information. "Weird, like, you finally ate too many cookies and your stomach is angry kind of weird?"

"You can never eat too many cookies!" Ruby pouted for a moment before she settled into a frown. "More like, I feel really kinda warm? Not because it's springtime or anything, because it's, like, warm inside me?"

"Warm inside but not outside…" Jaune rubbed his chin for a few seconds. "Maybe you are sick? You could have a fever. You could see a doctor if you are feelin-"

"I'm not sick." The redhead shook her head quickly. "If I was sick, then it wouldn't keep going away and coming back, right?"

The blonde's brow furrowed. "Huh, uh, well, where does it feel like it's coming from?"

The moment that Ruby's hand started to gesture below her belly button, Jaune looked away – his eyes darting nervously around the room, landing anywhere but the vague direction that Ruby was in. "Right, okay, this is not something I can help you with. Sorry, Ruby."

Ruby watched with alarming concern as Jaune grabbed his bag and started to back out of his seat. "Wait, Jaune, do you know something about this? Why are you leaving?"

"I have seven sisters, Ruby." Jaune gave a tired, weary sigh, only briefly slowing down toward the door. "I've had this conversation one too many times before." The blonde snapped his fingers. "Hold on, I bet Pyrrha could explain it! You should go ask her about it – not me!"

"See, that's the thing…" Ruby had to resist the urge to pull her hood over her head as she mumbled, "Whenever I'm around her now, that's when I feel like that."

Jaune's slow advance to the door finally halted as his breath sucked in. "Oh. Well, crap."

"Yup."

"…" Jaune wordlessly sat back in his chair. "Well, this is going to be awkward."

"So, uh, what exactly am I feeling?" Ruby asked as she watched Jaune pinch the bridge of his nose. "Am I actually sick with some sort of girly disease?"

"No, what you-" A loud ring tone stopped Jaune mid-sentence, and he started fumbling around his bag for the source of the noise. "Hold on, Velvet is calling me."

Suddenly, the look of someone resigned to their fate was wiped off his face as he stared at the scroll. "Actually…"

Blue eyes turned towards silver. "Velvet would probably be able to do this better."

* * *

Ruby's confusion only grew as she found herself in team CFVY's dorm room, alone with Velvet.

Of all the people that Ruby knew, she had not expected for Jaune to suggest his girlfriend_. _Certainly, Ruby had nothing against Velvet, but…

_It's not that I don't like her_ \- in fact Velvet had nothing but helpful to Ruby the handful of times they talked, always eager to help a underclassmen - _but I kinda don't know her_. Plus, the whole reason she was there still felt weird, and it wasn't going to get any easier with a near stranger. A heavy silence dominated the room.

"So, um, Jaune said you needed to talk with someone about… feeling out of sorts?" Velvet finally asked after a few moments of fidgeting with her fingers.

"Yeah." Ruby gave an uncertain nod. "He said you could help explain it better than he could, or, uh, something?"

"O-oh. I see." Ruby felt Velvet's gaze tentatively focus on her. "He said the same thing to me too."

"…oh." _So Velvet is in the same boat as me at least. That's good? I guess?_ "S-should I start?"

"If you feel comfortable." Bunny ears swayed as the brown haired girl nodded encouragingly with a warm voice.

"I, um, well, I've been feeling sorta, kinda weird?" The shorter girl embarrassingly admitted. "Like really weird."

Velvet giggled lightly. "So I've heard. Do you think you are ill?"

Ruby shook her head. "Nope. If I was, then that feeling wouldn't keep coming back and going away at random, right?"

Velvet's mouth compressed into a worried frown. "Anything else you can tell me about it…?"

"Yeah." Ruby gestured towards the area, below her waist. "I feel around here."

Similar to Jaune, this got a rather immediate reaction out of Velvet, whose mouth drooped slightly and eyes widened in surprise. "Oh." Brown eyes blinked as surprise. "W-was this when Jaune told you to talk to me?"

"Yeah." Ruby slowly nodded, as she anxiously glanced back at the faunus. "D-do I need to see a doctor or something? Is something really wrong with me?" Velvet shook her head. "Okay, then what?"

There was a pause. "I think Jaune mentioned before that you got into Beacon two years early?" Velvet finally inquired after a handful of seconds.

"Uh-huh, but what's that got to do with how I'm feeling?" Ruby's curiously stared at Velvet.

"Um. Well." Velvet's ears drooped slightly as she gave a sigh. "This is going to be awkward. Did… did anyone ever have _the_ talk with you? Like your parents or an older sibling?" Velvet's face lit up in recognition. "Such as Yang?"

Ruby wracked her brains. _The talk?_ Her dad had given her a speech when they found out she was going to be living in the dorms about 'always use protection'. And that if any boys ended up on either her or Yang's team to 'make sure they know their dad is a hunter'. To be honest, most of it had gone straight over Ruby's head at the time. However, he never mentioned anything about an uneasy warmth where her legs met. "I… don't… think so? I mean, Dad did mention something about using protection, but I don't think that's what you mean."

"It's... related." Velvet gave a slow nod. "I-I don't know when they do this in this kingdom, but in Vacuo, it's around..." The brown-haired girl tapped her chin for a few seconds. "When you are twelve years old, they have a week or two where they go over some… different topics and divide classes by girls and boys." Her pale face started to redden. "Do you remember that?"

"Sort of?" The younger teen could vaguely recall that for a few weeks one year, normal classes had been interrupted to talk about some gro-

"What?!" Ruby's voice came out as a screech, causing to Velvet to jump a full two feet out of her chair and landing rather gracelessly on the floor. "Y-y-you mean the… t-t-that's…?" The redhead could vaguely recall one of the teachers mentioning that a sensation similar to warmth. Ruby's face flushed red with embarrassment as she pulled the hood over her head.

_This is what they meant?!_ Ruby had only paid a little attention at the time, as she was more interested in doodling weapons on notebook paper then the class (in her defense, it had been really boring). The warm feeling, the sensation of feeling tight down there... it was all starting to come back to Ruby now as she remembered the week and a half seminar. It's what someone felt when they wanted to have sex. _Wait, does that mean I want to have sex?! I don't want to have sex! Sex means babies! _

Fearful thoughts coursed through Ruby's mind. _If I have babies, then I won't be able to graduate and I'll have to drop out and I'll never become a huntress! I'll have to leave my team and then they'll go on without me, and who'd I even have sex wit-_

"Ruby, are you alright?" Velvet had already clambered to her feet and was loaming over Ruby's quivering form. "I promise you, that it's natural."

That provided little comfort to Ruby, whose mind was running in circles and eyes were darting towards Velvet before shaking her head. "N-n-no, i-i-it's not okay!" Her voice cracking, a far higher pitch than it normally was. "D-d-doesn't that mean I want to have _kids_?" The last word came out as a barely audible whisper.

"No-no-no!" Velvet's usually quiet voice was louder than Ruby had ever heard it as the teen bent down to eye level. "That's not quite it. What you are probably feeling is, well, it's arousal. Have you ever, um, that's to say… it's basically what happens if you find someone to be rather attractive."

That didn't seem anywhere near as bad to Ruby as the insane anxiety-driven thoughts she had been experiencing moments ago. "You just feel like that when you find someone attractive?" she parroted back.

"That's correct." Velvet gave a small nod accompanied by her frown melting away into a small smile. "When you find someone that you want spend time with or is particularly, uh, _inciting_," that last word was far quieter than the rest, "that is when you tend to feel that way."

"Oh." Ruby blinked as she processed the information. It finally clicked, her silver eyes lighting up in understanding. "Ohhhhh. That. That's it?" Ruby's mind went back to the conversation she had with Pyrrha about her persons-of-interest at Signal - _I guess I really didn't have feelings for any of them then_. "So this is what it feels like?"

Velvet's ears flopped as she gave another nod. "See? It's nothing to be scared about. It's natural, and everyone feels like that at some point." She rested a reassuring hand on Ruby's shoulder.

"Does that mean you feel that way about Jaune?"

The faunus' face turned as red as Ruby's cloak in less than a second. "…yes."

"Th-that's not so bad then?" Ruby's thoughts were finally starting to settle as she stared up at the upperclassman. "I-is that it?"

Velvet let out a long sigh of relief, her smile deepening. "I think so. Unless you happen to have any other questions…?"

_Any other questions?_ A memory bubbled to the surface from that week. "Didn't you say that you usually start getting feelings like, uh, that," Ruby felt heat rise to her cheeks, "when you are, like, thirteen?"

"Not always." Velvet gave a small shrug. "It varies for everyone. Maybe you just didn't find anyone attractive before you started to feel it?" As Ruby processed her words, Velvet continued. "Do you remember the first time you felt like that?"

The younger teen nodded. "Yup, it was a month ago! I had screwed up my feet a little bit, and Pyrrha was carrying me to… to…" Silver eyes widened in horror as it dawned on Ruby.

Velvet, however, was the one to vocalize it after Ruby failed to. "It's Pyrrha?"

"That can't be it." Ruby found herself already answering without hesitation. "Pyrrha's my best friend. That's it! I'm not attracted to her at all, a-and I shouldn't be!"

"O-oh." Velvet was slightly taken aback by the outburst. "Are you sure, Ruby?" The concern was thick in her voice as she carefully studied Ruby. "When else have you felt, um, aroused?"

"Well…" The underclassman pondered for a little while as Velvet pulled her chair closer to the bed that Ruby was sitting on. "There was the time during the semester break. Then there was when we were studying for the test last weekend… and when Pyrrha and I were sparring…"

Velvet nodded encouragingly to go on, but Ruby shrugged; those were all the times she could think of off the top of her head. "This might not be my place to say anything, but it sounds to me like all of instances you gave have Pyrrha in them."

"Maybe it's that's not it! What if I'm really sick and I should see a doctor?" The redhead's voice was speeding up at a frantic pace. "M-maybe that's just it! I totally a-"

"When Pyrrha is close, does it feel like you are on fire?"Velvet's calm voice stopped Ruby in mid-ramble. "Not like an actual fire, but just a warmth that slowly diffuses throughout your body? Or your heart beating fast enough it feels like it's going to burst out of your chest?"

Ruby unconsciously nodded as brown eyes stared steadily at her silver ones. "I… guess so? Like, whenever Pyrrha is around, I just feel a lot, I dunno, happier?"

The corner of Velvet's mouth stretched into a large smile. "I think you have a crush on Pyrrha, then."

"But how do you know that?"

"Because that's what it was like for me with Jaune." The Faunus simply stated. "He made me feel happy when he was around, made me feel warm." Velvet's face started to flush red again.

Ruby's mouth, meanwhile, turned into a worried frown. "But then if it's like that, how come I only started to feel like this for Pyrrha now? We've known each other since initiation - heck, why haven't I felt like this before with other people?" She stared inquisitively at Velvet. "That's what's normal, right?"

"Sometimes." Velvet nodded before continuing. "But not always. It varies for everyone. You could just not have found anyone attractive beforehand, or you could just be a bit of a late bloomer."

Ruby's face scrunched up in concentration as she tried to think back to what she'd been told in school. "But, how come I don't find anyone else, um, arousing?" Ruby felt heat rising to her cheeks, tinging them red.

"I… I actually might have an idea on that; have you ever been as close to someone as you are with Pyrrha?"

"Yup! Yang and my dad, and I guess my teammates?" The questioning look that Velvet was giving her gave Ruby the feeling that she meant something entirely different by 'close' friend. "Um, I guess just Blake and Weiss?"

"Would you say you are better friends with Pyrrha than with either of them?" Ruby shook her head. "You might just not have been close enough to anyone before."

"Huh?"

"It varies for everyone," Velvet calmly continued. "You might not have felt attraction for someone until you got a strong enough emotional bond to them."

_You don't feel attraction unless you have a strong emotional bond?_ The words ran like a loop in Ruby's head as they slowly settled in.

Throughout the years, Ruby had never had that many friends. Sure, there always was Yang, but she was Ruby's big sister first and friend second. While at Signal Academy, Ruby had made a few friends. At the end of the day, however, there was never one person which Ruby could point to and call a best friend. A few close friends, but that was it.

Then, when Ruby got accepted into Beacon Academy two years early, her previous friendships were strained as she left for a new school. She had made new friends there, like Weiss, Blake and Jaune and, to a lesser extent, Jaune's team, team JNPR.

Ruby could say, without a doubt in her mind, that she was close friends with Weiss, Blake and team JNPR, but it wasn't until the dynamic changed – Jaune and Velvet started to date – that she had someone who was closer to her then any previous friend.

Sure, it had started out small with Ruby trying to cheer Pyrrha up, but over the course of a semester, they'd grown close. Close enough that Ruby could officially say she had a best friend for the first time.

Pyrrha Nikos was the person that Ruby had bonded with more than anyone, outside of her own family.

"I guess that makes sense." A small smile lit up Ruby's face as the mystery was solved… only for it to be wiped off in a second when she finally processed everything that had been said.

"I-I-I have a crush on P-Pyrrha."

"Is that a bad thing?" Ruby could hear the concerned, muffled voice through her hood that she had reflexively pulled over. "Everyone gets crushes."

"It'll make things weird between us!" Ruby woefully shook her head. "I'll be acting all weird and crushy and then Pyrrha might get weirded out and not want to hang out anymore, and then we won't be friends, and she'll be alone and sad again!"

"I don't think Pyrrha would do something like that, Ruby. I may not be very good friends with her, but she _is_ Jaune's partner. He thinks the world of her, and from what he's told me, I can tell you for a fact that she isn't that kind of person." A small smile crossed Velvet's face. "If anything, she'd be more concerned about you."

Ruby could agree on that, but the anxiety had settled into a low level of panic. "O-okay, so what do I do? Do I just ignore it and it eventually goes away? Is there a way to make it so I don't have a crush on Pyrrha…?"

Velvet gained an amused, almost skeptical look. "It's not _that_ bad to have a crush on someone is it? Isn't it good to feel that kind of warmth when you are around them? To feel happy?"

"Yeah, but I'll be acting really all funny." The younger teen protested. "And Pyrrha will wonder what's wrong and then I'll have to tell her…"

"Then why don't you just tell her?"

Silver eyes widened in horror. "I-I-I can't do that!"

Velvet met Ruby's gaze unflinchingly. "Why not?" It seemed absurd to Ruby that Velvet was even asking that question.

"What if Pyrrha doesn't like girls? What if she thinks I'm some kind of freak?!" Ruby's voice had gone up an octave. "Pyrrha likes boys, not girls!" Even in Ruby's increasingly frantic state, she knew to keep herself from blurting out how exactly she knew that tidbit of information.

"On the other hand, what if Pyrrha felt the same way about you? What if she wanted to be more than friends as well?" Truthfully, the thought hadn't entered Ruby's mind, as she felt her cheeks tinge with red from rising heat as she stared down at her lap.

_Pyrrha might have a crush on me?_ The thought was absurd; Pyrrha Nikos having any sort of feelings for normal knees Ruby? Yet Ruby couldn't deny the fact Pyrrha might made her far happier than she'd felt in a long time.

However, there was always the other possibility, that Pyrrha didn't have the same feelings that Ruby was discovering she had for her. If that was the case, and Ruby confessed…

"But if she doesn't, then I might lose my best friend."

That possibility was beyond terrifying for Ruby. She didn't want the fun times they shared to be over in an instant all because of her stupid crush.

Who would step into Pyrrha's place then? Weiss? The only reason that Weiss was required to talk to Ruby was because they were partners. Something like friendship did come from that,, but definitely not at first and even then, they were partners first and friends second.

What about Jaune? Jaune had been in the same situation as Ruby had been when they first met: confused and friendless. They may both have had a lot of shared interests, such as video games or anime, but that wasn't enough. For one, Jaune for the life of him could not keep up with her weapons talk. Ruby felt bad for feeling this way, _but he still doesn't know the difference between a full tang and no tang weapon…_ it made conversations about the redhead's true passion _difficult_. Besides, nowadays he was all caught up with the girl sitting before her and less and less time to hang out with her.

Yet in Pyrrha, Ruby found someone who she could truly act like a complete dork around; she might not be as well-versed as the Ruby was, but she could talk shop about the latest weapon modifications and was always willing to try new hobbies, like gaming or origami. Unlike Weiss, where circumstance forced them to be together, Ruby and Pyrrha's friendship was more of an equal dynamic. They helped each other out when they were at their low points, like the fiasco involving Jaune or when Ruby felt like an utter failure after Breach.

Perhaps that was why Ruby had felt it was right to call Pyrrha her best friend. Perhaps that was one of the reasons why she'd gotten a crush on her. Ruby had found a level of acceptance in someone that she'd never even imagined before.

So the thought of losing all of that in an instant made Ruby curl up on the bed, her knees pressed against the bottom of her chin, arms wrapped around them and barely holding back breaking into tears.

"I-I-I don't have that many friends. I've never had a best friend before." Ruby's gaze rose back up to look at the looming faunus, the world taking on a glassy quality. "I… I can't, I don't wanna…" The struggle to keep back the tears was being lost as they trickled down her cheeks.

Hesitant arms wrapped around her as the looming shadow closed the distance. Tears turned into soft sobs in the faunus' arms. As minutes passed the sobs finally ebbed away into the odd sniffle. "You don't have to tell Pyrrha, if you don't want to."

Ruby gave a small nod before Velvet continued. "If you ever need someone to confide in, I'll be around." Ruby finally felt calm enough to speak.

"Promise you won't tell Jaune?" Ruby's voice felt small even to herself.

"I promise."

* * *

_Editor/BETA: ASouthernRussian_

* * *

AU: Hey look, characters have feelings for each other, and we know where I get the name for the story now!

Okay so I don't have too much to say this time. First is what the hell am I doing with Ruby, you might be asking yourself… well, you are probably asking me, let's be real here.

Ruby is demi-sexual.

Originally I was going to be more overt about it, but basically this comes from a conversation with NarfoOnTheNet many many months ago, probably in July or June of 2015.

What is Demi-sexual?

That is when someone doesn't feel sexual attraction towards someone unless they have a strong emotional connection or bond with someone. Think of it as in-between asexual and sexual.

If I got that wrong and offended anyone, I am deeply, deeply sorry.

With that out of the way, *author drops to their knees* FORGIVE ME FOR I HAVENT RESPONDED TO REVIEWS! D: I was crushed between work, writing _Regrets_ (14,000 word one shot that everyone should check out!) and trying to get this done in the four week schedule I normally do!

FORGIVE MEEEEEEEEE D:

Oh, a special thanks to SylverLining for consultation on certain bits too! :D

I think that's it? Relatively short chapter and author's note this time around, only one omake too, by Super Saiyan Cyndaquil! Someone asked for more Arc family and bunbun and that's what you get! I'll try and have chapter twenty one release on May 6th!

Thank you for reading everyone, I hope you all have a great day! :D

P.S. Chibi RWBY mini-series is going to be a thing! Here's hoping for some Chibi Pyrrha!


	21. Chapter 21: Longing

**IMPORTANT, PLEASE READ FIRST: **

**PLEASE READ CHAPTER TWENTY **_**AGAIN**_

Chapter 20 got a complete rewrite since it posted, the rewrite going live last night. It was rewritten for a number of reasons which will be explained at the bottom. When I say rewritten I mean nothing was kept from the original version including Velvet. In fact, the last scene of chapter nineteen was rewritten as well for the changes to make sense.

Think of it as two new chapters instead of one :D

* * *

**Chapter Twenty One: Longing**

* * *

Pyrrha stared at the email.

She'd gotten emails like this before, but with school having started back up, she had completely forgotten about them.

An invitation to an event a day before the demonstration she'd be doing in a few weeks. Well, less of an invitation and more of a notification, since it was not exactly optional for her. Which meant a quick day trip was going to turn into an overnight affair at the very least.

What made this particularly unappealing was how boring it was going to be. _I'm not going to know anyone there other than the usual Atlas executives, If only there was someone I could… bring... _ Emerald eyes drifted to her best friend. _On second thought…_

"Ruby, do you still have your dress from the Vytal festival dance?" Never before had Pyrrha been so happy that she was allowed a plus-one.

"Probably?" Ruby was preoccupied with attempting to balance a pencil on the tip of her nose. "I guess it should still be in the closet, why?"

A smile tugged at the corners of Pyrrha's mouth. "Do you remember me mentioning a weapon demonstration I'll be attending in three weeks?" Ruby nodded as little as she could so as not to drop the pencil. "It turns out I've been invited to a formal gala the day before; would you be interested in accompanying me to it?"

"Buh-wha?" The delicate balance for the pencil was completely thrown off as it went clattering to the floor. Wide silver eyes focused on Pyrrha. "Um, sorry, what was that?"

"I'm allowed to invite a plus one, but I've never had anyone to take with me… and I was thinking that after the gala and the demonstration, we could do a mini-vacation of sorts?"

"O-oh… you mean just the two of us… together?" Surprisingly, Ruby didn't seem too enthused about it. "That sounds... cool? And far... wow, isn't this place really far away?" Instead of a smile or showing any sign of excitement, Ruby seemed more uncertain if anything. Pyrrha's smile drooped slightly.

_Perhaps this isn't such a good idea... I thought she'd jump at the chance._ "You don't have to come along, but you would get to miss class f-"

Where Ruby had been sitting was now a pile of rose petals.

Before Pyrrha could even question what had just happened, Ruby reappeared, a trail of petals leading across the hall to her dorm room. "When do I start packing?!"

The smile returned anew to Pyrrha's lips as well as a gentle laugh.

* * *

"Can we have a serious discussion in how you fight in these?"

"It takes some practice. Just give it some time and you'll have more sure footing." Pyrrha let off a soft giggle as Ruby waddled towards her in heels – a sight that she hadn't seen since the Vytal Festival dance. "Are you enjoying the party at least?"

"Hehe, yeah, it's better than the last one we went to!" Ruby flashed her a goofy grin. "No worrying about Blake or Jaune being mopey about Velvet." The goofy grin wavered. "It's kinda weird not knowing anyone here besides you." A sentiment that Pyrrha could easily understand.

"That's why I was so happy that you could come: so I'd have at least someone I care about here." Pyrrha flashed a huge smile to her friend, one that Ruby returned… only to disappear into a frown, reverting so fast that she could have sworn she only imagined it. _Maybe Ruby is more uncomfortable than she is letting on?_

Unlike the dance from their freshman year, the two were not at Beacon surrounded by fellow students. In fact, they weren't even in the kingdom of Vale. Rather, they were in Atlas at a rather formal gala being held by the Schnee Dust Corporation for the members of the upper echelons of the northern kingdom. One of the obligations that came from being a well-known name in tournament fighting was to attend events like this that occasionally popped up. Such as being invited to demonstrate against new weapons and all-expense paid trips to get there.

Normally, these events were quite boring. The demonstrations were nothing like real fights, and having only executives and businessmen for company did not appeal to Pyrrha. However, unlike all the times before, Pyrrha was not alone; with Ruby at her side, she found that she could finally enjoy the event._._

"How come you have to keep going to these things?" Ruby inquired after a moment. "Isn't there a new Mistral champion by now? Shouldn't they be the one here talking to all these, uh, fancy people?" Ruby gestured to the mass of lavishly dressed men and women idly chattering.

"Yes, well, that's what I had hoped for, but winning the Vytal Tournament did quite the opposite, I'm afraid." Pyrrha's ponytail swayed as she shook her head sadly. "So until the next one, it seems that I'll be going to these events for a little while longer."

"Aww, that sucks." Ruby's eyes darted to the ground before back at Pyrrha. "But at least it's a free vacation… I guess?"

"That's certainly a way to look at it." The corners of Pyrrha's lips inched upwards before turning into an apologetic smile. "Sorry if it's a tad formal. After the demonstration tomorrow, my obligations will be done." Pyrrha looked forward to that particular part of her weekend.

"What about tonight? Do you have any more people to talk to?" Ruby eyed the throng of suited men that Pyrrha had spent the better part of the last half hour talking to.

"I don't believe so, no." Pyrrha had dutifully talked to the sponsor of the event and all the relevant people. "We just need to stay for an hour or two longer and that'll be it."

"Yay!" Ruby's face lit up from the news. "I'll go get us some drin-eep!"

Pyrrha already knew what happened as Ruby started to fall - she'd tripped from her heels. Lunging forwards, Pyrrha caught Ruby before her face met the unforgiving floor. "You okay?"

"Yes, um, thanks." Ruby mumbled off before awkwardly half running towards the drinks table, her eyes refusing to meet Pyrrha's own. In fact, her whole posture was that of someone being closed off. _Something is off with Ruby._

That was part of why Pyrrha had invited Ruby to come along with her to Atlas. Pyrrha reflected on this while wandering off to find a free table. _Ruby has been acting… odd, as of late. _

Finding one near the dance floor, Pyrrha slowly took a seat before looking around for Ruby. Eventually the crowd parted enough for her to see Ruby standing in a long line at the drinks table. Immediately, Ruby's wandering eyes found Pyrrha, who gave a small wave. The moment they locked eyes, Ruby turned immediately back towards the slowly progressing line, eliciting a frown from Pyrrha.

Pyrrha couldn't quite put her finger on exactly what was up, but there was definitely something that was different. She had started to notice it a month ago – quite abruptly – when Ruby had skipped hanging out with her for a few days and then started to act differently around her.

More often than not, Pyrrha could feel Ruby's eyes fixed on her, but the moment she returned the gaze, Ruby would try and hide it. At first, Pyrrha had guessed that Ruby had wanted to tell her something - _since it seemed like she was intent on getting my attention_ \- but it didn't seem the case anymore.

Ruby also seemed to be rather… uneasy around her. Like when Pyrrha smiled at her sometimes. Or when Pyrrha had proposed having Ruby attend the gala with her. _Ruby really didn't look all that excited at the proposition at first._

What had just happened was a good example of it; the happy mood was cut short the moment that Pyrrha had caught Ruby from face-planting into the ground.

_Was it something I did?_

Pyrrha thought about this a lot recently. She was convinced that whatever happened with Ruby was her fault.

_All I did was catch her; I don't believe I did anything off-putting?_ Pyrrha went through the previous conversation, _and she seemed quite pleased that for the most part my obligations for the night were done…_ Yet, Pyrrha could have sworn Ruby had shuddered at her touch. Of course, it could be something else, but… no, that wouldn't do. Whatever was troubling Ruby, Pyrrha wanted to help.

There was also the concern that Pyrrha had about it changing their friendship. Spending the better part of a mini-vacation with Ruby seemed like a grand way to do it, after all.

_On the other hand… maybe I'm just reading far too into this and I'm making a mountain out of a molehill?_ Pyrrha could acknowledge that she worried about certain things more than what was probably healthy, such as keeping friends. _She probably was just embarrassed because she tripped over her own feet._

Pyrrha shook her head_,_ smiling guiltily at how presumptuous she was being_._ _Of course it is._ Slow, pondering footsteps grew louder as Pyrrha turned towards her approaching friend. _Speaking of which…_

"Sorry! The line was really long and they had all these fancy names for these drinks!" Ruby sputtered as she handed Pyrrha a glass with a brightly coloured liquid within. She carefully sat down at their table before taking a sip from her own glass. "I didn't know what you wanted so I got you some punch."

"That's fine!" Pyrrha lifted the glass up and took a brief sip. _Of course she'd get this flavour_, she thought as a small grin creased her lips. "Strawberry?"

"Yup!" And like that, the happy mood was back between them. "Do you have to go to these things a lot?" Inquisitives eyes stared up at Pyrrha.

"Not as of late, thankfully. When I first started to win in the tournament circuit, I think I was far more involved with the whole being a kind of celebrity thing, so I went to a lot more public events." Pyrrha faintly remembered how exciting it had been to be on TV for the first time, or the first handful of interviews. "It was pretty fun when I wasn't a nervous wreck."

Ruby gave a loud snort. "I really can't see you being nervous about anything, Pyrrha. You're always so calm and cool and collected all the time." A faint red tinge spread across Ruby's face.

"You'd be wrong." Pyrrha shyly admitted after a moment or two. "The first time I had an interview, it was scarier than any fight I've ever been in. The camera crews, the bright lights, the unending questions… I thought it'd never end!"

"Oh." Ruby shifted in her seat. "I keep forgetting you're on TV sometimes. Like, you're just Pyrrha to me." Silver eyes widened in more than a little horror. "Not-that-there-is-anything-wrong-with-that!"

Pyrrha felt laughter bubble up. "It's fine Ruby, really! I sometimes forget too, though, and I'm quite glad you think of me that way." Pyrrha felt heat rising to her cheeks. "I'd much rather be just 'Pyrrha' then the 'Invincible Girl', especially to you."

"O-okay." Ruby finally sputtered out after her mouth open and closed like a fish out of water. "I guess, I, uh, will just think of you, um, as just Pyrrha then?"

Pyrrha merely smiled and gave a nod in thanks.

"S-so is it ever weird seeing your face on cereal boxes?"

"I suppose?" Truth be told, Pyrrha had never eaten Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes given how utterly unhealthy it was - a sentiment sadly not shared by several of her friends. "It's really off-putting to be recognized by strangers, however."

"I'd bet." Ruby replied quietly. "I'd be weirded out if people I didn't know knew me." Pyrrha didn't doubt that in the least - despite being a leader of her own team, Ruby could be surprisingly shy when it came to meeting new people.

The mental image that Pyrrha conjured up of Ruby being in the limelight made her feel a tad guilty of finding it funny. "You get used to it eventually."

"I guess, it just seems like a lot."

Pyrrha gave a small shrug as an answer before turning towards her drink and taking a sip.

_Is it peculiar that being a celebrity is normal for me now?_ It wasn't that long ago that Pyrrha remembered how foreign the whole concept had been. _When did this start being normal?_

Pyrrha decided that searching for answers was something to do at another time, especially given that she was with company. She turned back towards Ruby, only to stop before words could leave her mouth.

Ruby's focus had moved from Pyrrha, as the younger teen's mouth slowly curled downwards in a slight frown. For someone who was usually always in motion, Ruby was particularly still as she let out a small sigh.

Pyrrha had seen Ruby happy or sad before. In fact, she'd seen any number of emotions cross her friend's face; however, longing was a new one.

Curious, Pyrrha glanced towards where Ruby's attention was.

The dance floor.

_I honestly forgot that there _were_ people dancing_. Yet Pyrrha could make out the music over the din of conversation as a number of people slowly danced in front of them.

_Wait, does Ruby want to dance?_

Thinking back to the last dance the two had attended, Pyrrha couldn't remember Ruby ever taking to the dance floor, far more content to hang out at the punch bowl with her.

_Ruby mentioned back then that she goes to dances to see her friends instead of the actual dancing... so why does she keep staring at the dancers?_ While Pyrrha could see Ruby being shy when she was the center of attention, she was safely secluded off to the side of the crowd. _So what else could it be? _Then it clicked. _Maybe she doesn't know how to dance? That would explain why she said doesn't care for the actual dancing at these sorts of events._

Pyrrha silently observed for a few more seconds before Ruby, upon noticing a pair of eyes fixed on her, jolted and embarrassedly turned back to her. "Oops, ha ha… what were we talking about?"

"Have you ever danced before?"

Ruby's face flushed a deep crimson – presumably from embarrassment. "…n-no…"

A smile graced Pyrrha's lips as she stood up and gently pulled a startled Ruby to her feet. "I don't know much, but I can teach you..." Ruby seemed rooted to the ground, next to the table, "…if you would like?"

"Uh…um… sure?" A tiny grin tugged at Ruby's lips as she nodded.

"Great! Just follow me." Pyrrha lead Ruby over to the dance floor – not that it was more than a dozen feet away – as a slow song started up. _Perfect, I know how to slow dance better than any form of free style! _

Pyrrha held out her right hand slightly lower than shoulder height. "Hold my hand with your left hand." Ruby tentatively clasped her left hand with Pyrrha's right. "Good! Now put your right hand on my left shoulder." Once again, Ruby shyly followed the instructions, her hand almost hovering over the bare skin. "And now I put my left hand on your hip… and we're done!" Pyrrha finished with a smile.

"Wait, that's it?" Ruby's head tilted. "Isn't it a lot more, um, complicated?" She looked around at the other dancers seemingly for confirmation that they were doing it correctly.

"Well, not quite. We aren't moving yet… just follow my lead." Guiding Ruby's left hand with her right, Pyrrha took a small step, one which Ruby hurriedly followed. "Now we're dancing."

"O-oh okay." Ruby nodded quickly before trying to match Pyrrha's sway. "Am I doing it right?" Ruby asked after a moment.

"You're doing great, Ruby. See? It's easy!"

The encouragement elicited the nervous frown to meld into a small grin. "Do you dance a lot?"

Red hair swayed as Pyrrha shook her head. "Sadly, that's not quite the case. Besides the Vytal Festival dance, the last time must have been…" Pyrrha racked her brain for a good ten seconds before coming up empty-handed. "I don't rightly recall?"

A comfortable silence descended as the two enjoyed the gentle swaying. What had been uncertain movements slowly turned into more flowing, fluid motions as Pyrrha noticed Ruby slowly start to enjoy herself more. By the start of the next song, the jerky, stilted movements were gone as a growing smile stretched across Ruby's face.

"Whoa, and to think I was doing all that on lady-stilts..." Ruby said with wonder. Happy to see her in such good spirits, Pyrrha beamed down at her.

"See? I knew you would get used to it," she said brightly, which earned a deep flush of red from Ruby's face. She avoided Pyrrha's gaze for a moment, seemingly lost in thought.

"You know," Ruby started sheepishly after a while, "I-if you want, I can be your dancing partner for the next Vytal Festival?" She then quickly added upon noticing Pyrrha's surprise, "I-I mean, _if_ you don't already have one."

"That sounds grand, I'd love to have another dance with you."

The next moment, Pyrrha felt Ruby's grip tighten as the smaller teen lost her footing. Thankfully, she didn't end up face planting into the ground, Pyrrha letting her friend lean against her until she regained her footing.

While Ruby was muttering about stupid lady-stilts, Pyrrha could have sworn it had happened again, just like when she'd caught her from falling earlier. _Perhaps I'm not imagining it, Ruby definitely shuddered when she let go._

…_or she was about to fall and jumped at the sudden contact?_ That made far more sense to Pyrrha, yet she still felt something was amiss.

"Hey Pyrrha?"

"Hm?" Pyrrha was pulled out of her thoughts by her dancing partner.

"Thanks." There was genuine gratitude behind Ruby's voice. "I've never had anyone to dance with before, this is actually really nice."

A goofy, large grin stretched across Pyrrha's face, one that made the redhead feel embarrassed. "Think nothing of it, Ruby! I'm just glad you're enjoying yourself."

The beaming smile Pyrrha received made her feel happier than she had in recent memory, as a quick swell of warmth flared in her chest.

Perhaps it was because of this feeling that Pyrrha pulled her in all the more closer.

* * *

Editor/BETA: ASouthernRussian

* * *

AU: Oh Pyrrha, are you finally starting to realize the ship of the story too? ;D

It's funny how this chapter synchronized with _Dilation_'s, come to think of it...

First thing to address is the last chapter:

I screwed up pretty badly. Among the things that were over looked in the original version of chapter twenty was the fact that I was how immature I was treating Ruby. I had some inkling of that while writing but because no one questioned it during the editing process, it sort of slipped through into the final version. Which wasn't good.

After some very helpful reviews, one notable one from Gorsouul, I talked to my editor and I decided to rewrite chapter 20 from scratch to solve the numerous issues. This is why I HEAVILY suggest you that you go to chapter 20 and take another look. Literally nothing from the previous version except a small three hundred word block was kept, albeit with a completely different purpose, from the original.

I've kept the original version of chapter 20 at the end of the new version in case anyone was really attached to it and wants to reread it or just for general comparison purposes!

So in a way, it's two new chapters today instead of just one :)

ALRIGHT, with that out of the way, there is other, smaller stuff… SUCH AS THE FACT THAT _ACCEPTANCE_ BROKE ONE THOUSAND FOLLOWERS, HOLY SHIT THAT'S AMAZING! :D :D :D :D

Seriously that makes me happy like you wouldn't believe! We're only a third of the way through the story, I can only wonder at how big it'll get from here! :P

I ALSO FINALLY RESPONDED TO REVIEWS, YAY! :D

Now onto the next update and when it will happen…

Real life is picking up in busyness for me relatively soon so the updates may be a tad… slow. I'll try and have chapter 22 of Acceptance out on June 3rd or 4th, but if all else fails I'm doing a big update for multiple stories on July 1st in case I miss next month's chapter.

I'm going to try to not have that happen since at the present pace, it will take me something like three years to complete this story. I'd rather not take even longer for that.

Finally, to roundout the update, I have three omakes, two short ones and a long one provided by Super Saiyan Cyndaquil as always.

Thank you all for reading and bearing with me, I hope each and every one of you has a wonderful day! :D

* * *

**Omake I:**

Ruby lean up on the wall, flick on a pair of sunglasses and point all-suave like "Hey baby. How's about you and me tear up the dance floor this Sunday? Heels not required."

* * *

**Omake II:**

"Uh…um… sure?" A tiny grin tugged at Ruby's lips as she nodded.

"Great! Just follow me." Pyrrha lead Ruby over to the dance floor – not that it was more than a dozen feet away – as a fast song started up.

To be honest, Pyrrha had no clue how to dance, however, she had seen enough videos to know that proper dancing to this kind of music involved grinding one's butt against their partner. So that's what she did as the music played.

The only problem was when she turned around to see if she was doing it right, Ruby wasn't standing there anymore. Rather, she was lying on the ground with a massive nosebleed and the most dopey, happiest grin stretched across her face.

Pyrrha could barely hear Ruby mutter as she rushed for the first aid kit, but what she did hear made her stop.

"Best. Dance. Ever."

* * *

**Omake III – Guest author: Super Saiyan Cyndaquil:**

"Man… and I thought my family lived out in the sticks." Jaune grumbled under his breath, eliciting a cheerful giggle from his girlfriend.

"I told you the walk would be quite far from the station to my home. We could have had father pick us up." Velvet interlocked her fingers behind her back, legs swinging exaggeratedly with every step she took. He didn't know what it was, but there was something absolutely lovely about her right now, wearing a simple white, one-piece dress, sandals, and a sun hat with holes for her Faunus ears to poke out of.

"What? And miss out on this lovely walk?" Jaune scoffed and turned his head. Stretching endlessly on either side of them was farmland. And in stark contrast to Velvet's leisurely, upbeat pace, Jaune was lagging horribly. That was of course, because he was carrying not just his own luggage, but Velvet's too. He had a suitcase in either hand and a stuffed pack slung over his back.

"I can carry something for a while, you know? You don't have to do all the work." Velvet leaned over, dabbing at the sweat lining his forehead with a cloth.

"No thank you. I want to make a good first impression with your parents and nothing speaks louder than chivalry." He adjusted his grip with either hand, before rolling his shoulders to ensure the backpack was secure. Velvet just shook her head at him, but she couldn't hide the huge smile on her face either.

Whether she would admit it to him or not, she was thrilled that he was willing to work so hard to make a good impression with her family. And why wouldn't he? He cared about Velvet greatly and he knew how important family was, coming from such a large one himself. So there was no way he was going to risk botching this up.

"So what kind of farmers are your parents again?" He didn't know why he bothered adding the last word. The only thing he had known was that they were farmers. He never knew what it was they harvested. Actually, he knew very little about Velvet's family in general.

Perhaps Velvet knew that he didn't know in the first place, but instead of looking upset, she actually looked rather embarrassed; slight blush on her cheeks and rabbit ears deflating all while she gave a nervous chuckle and fiddled with her hair.

"They're… uhh… well, carrot farmers." She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye to see his reaction. He was ashamed to admit it, but his expression was probably a dubious one.

"That's-" What exactly was he supposed to say in response to that? Letting his gut take command (which was never a good idea) he burst out the first thing that came to mind. "-a bit more stereotypical than I imagined." The moment the words left his mouth he felt like a jackass.

Velvet didn't appear to think so at all, stifling back another giggle while placing a fist over her mouth - an act Jaune found heartwarmingly adorable, by the way - before she gave an enthusiastic nod.

"It really is, isn't it?" She agreed to what he said with nothing but humour in her voice. He supposed he should just find himself lucky that she thought the same as he did. "My family is perhaps a little old-fashioned in many ways. I would be lying if I said that wasn't sometimes a little frustrating, if only because it feels like we prove some of the racists true." There was a far away look in her eye, and he knew she was thinking about Cardin. Which may have been a reason she never stood up to him, now that he thought about it.

"However, I love them all very much. They were very supportive of my dream. Despite the fact that I was the eldest and they wanted me to inherit the farm when I grew up." Those words ironically made him think about a conversation he once had with Pyrrha. The same night he told her about his transcripts.

"Well, I can't wait to meet them." He meant that in several ways. He really was looking forward to meeting Velvet's family, but he also just really wanted to dump off all this luggage.

"I can't wait for you to meet them too. I'm very glad you could come out here with me on such short notice." Velvet looked ahead, and he saw her eyes light up as a building that must have been her house came into focus.

"Of course I would come. It would be a shame to miss the birth of your newest little brother or sister." Now that he thought about it, there was quite the age-gap between siblings at this point. He knew Velvet had said she was the eldest, but- "How many little brothers and sisters do you have already?"

"About twenty."

Twenty!? He thought having seven other sisters was madness, but twenty? And what was this 'about' word she used? There were so many she wasn't even sure? Before he could put any of this into words, the door to the house in the distance burst open.

"Big sister Velvet's home!" And with the chorus of a mob, more than a dozen kids of varying ages raced out of the house and began to charge them. It was only then Velvet let out a small gasp, as if just now remembering that she forgot something.

"Perhaps I should have given you some heads up?" She smiled sweetly, perhaps too sweetly.

"This is payback for sticking you alone with Violet, isn't it?"

"Of course not~!"

Well, whatever. It was a good thing he liked kids.


	22. Chapter 22: Peripeteia

**Chapter Twenty Two: Peripeteia**

* * *

"Ruby, could you help me with something?"

The teen turned from the TV to her friend's head, peeking out from behind the bathroom door. "Sure, what with?"

"I need help lacing up my armour, if it's not too much trouble?" Pyrrha apologetically asked. "I can do it myself, but it takes quite a while." Her head dipped down. "Sorry."

"O-oh. Okay." Ruby could swear her heartbeat was audible as she slowly made her way towards the bathroom. Ruby's breath hitched as she walked in on Pyrrha starting to put on her undershirt on, which gave Ruby an unrestricted view of the tall teen's back. Muscles flexing as the top was pulled over her head, flawlessly smooth skin…

_I shouldn't look, that'd be wrong!_ Ruby had seen Pyrrha nude before - after all, they shared a locker room together for more than a year - yet Ruby's hands flew to cover her eyes all the same. She felt like a kid who had found their Dustmas presents early. When she finally peeked, Pyrrha's undershirt was on and she was now wrapping the corset around herself, prompting a sigh from Ruby – whether it was relief or disappointment, she wasn't entirely sure.

_You can do this, you just need to help tie your best friend and crush's armour. See, simple! Just don't notice how smooth her skin is… or how muscled her ba-_ Ruby shook her head in a vain attempt to dispel some of the more risqué thoughts. _Just act normal and focus on lacing the corset._

Closing the distance to Pyrrha, Ruby's now sweaty fingers took a hold of the lace and started to tie it up. _Can't let my eyes strays, just focus on the lace._ While it was true that Pyrrha would never notice if Ruby started to ogle her, seeing as she was facing away, but Ruby would know.

Her attraction to Pyrrha was really starting to mess with every one of their interactions. Ruby felt like some creepy peeping tom every time she admired Pyrrha's curves… her chiseled abs…

Somehow, in some statistical anomaly, Ruby finished without fumbling too much or tying it wrong and took a step back. "Okay, I'm done."

"Thanks, Ruby." A very sincere smile graced Pyrrha's lips as she turned around. "I believe you still wanted some breakfast?" Ruby dumbly nodded as Pyrrha tapped her chin. "I suppose I could try and keep something down... alright, let's head downstairs then!"

Following Pyrrha out of their shared room like the love-struck puppy she knew she was, a thought crossed Ruby's mind.

_How has Pyrrha not realized that I have a crush on her?_

No matter how tasty the food was at breakfast, Ruby could not shake that thought from her mind. The trip was a rollercoaster ride since the beginning to her.

It was hard to say what she'd felt when Pyrrha asked her to accompany her on the trip to Atlas, alone. Excitement, uneasy, happiness, worry… yet despite this cocktail of emotions, Ruby had ultimately said yes. So far, that choice had yet to bite her in the butt. Traveling out of kingdom was a new experience for Ruby, and what's not to love about spending more time with Pyrrha? However, last night was stuck in her head.

For the first time in Ruby's life, she actually wanted to join in on the dancing – entirely possible because her crush was sitting a few feet away from her. The surprise at having said crush ask if she wanted to dance with her…

Heat rose to Ruby's cheeks upon recalling the memory. Pyrrha had held her close, the two of them slowly swaying to the music, ignoring the rest of the world as if it wasn't there. _I didn't know dancing could be so fun!_ _Better yet, Pyrrha said she wouldn't mind dancing with me at the next Vytal festival! Sure, it's like a year and a half away, but it's something! _A big, dopey smile stretched across Ruby's blushing face.

_Maybe I won't ever have to tell her?_ The question of confessing her feelings for Pyrrha had been weighing heavily on Ruby's mind for a while. It was the fear that it might end their friendship instead of strengthen it that kept her from doing so.

Ruby glanced over to Pyrrha as she munched on some fruit. _She doesn't seem to be noticing me acting any different, so maybe everything is alright?_ Perhaps Nora's advice to act normal really was working out.

When Ruby had leaned against Pyrrha for support during the slow dance, she had seemed fine with it. Yes, somehow the maelstrom of anxiety in Ruby's gut was kept beneath the surface. She'd shuddered the moment they touched… and felt a little guilty in the fact she had enjoyed the skin-to-skin contact so much.

Yet overall, their friendship seemed to be back to normal. Ruby was no longer so afraid around Pyrrha and was enjoying herself in spite of her crush. _I really need to thank Nora next time I see her… that talk helped a lot. _

"Sooo..." Ruby drawled, grabbing Pyrrha's attention, "What do you wanna do first after the fight?"

Emerald eyes lit up as Pyrrha set her silverware down. "I have a few ideas in mind, actually. The SDC offered to give me a tour of their weapon research division, an invitation that I'm sure can be extended to you as well."

A giddy smile stretched across Ruby's face at the thought of seeing experimental weapons - _the coolest weapons that weren't even known to the public!_ It wasn't exactly hard for Pyrrha to pick up on Ruby's excitement. "I also heard that there is a museum on the development of weapons and robotics here, which might be interesting to check out."

These both sounded like great ideas to Ruby, and she couldn't fault a single one of them as Pyrrha continued to list them off. However, she couldn't help but notice that they were all things that Ruby would like to see. Sure, Pyrrha did enjoy perusing through the latest tech, but Ruby knew that her friend had other interests. "Um, how about you? What would you like to do?" Ruby finally asked.

Pyrrha blinked in surprise, clearly not expecting the question. "Me?" Ruby gave a small nod. "I'm happy with wherever we go – I'm not picky." Ruby's smile drooped slightly at her friend's apathetic attitude towards their vacation.

"Really? There isn't anything you want to do here? I mean, I'd _really _love to go and do all of those things, but it sounds like it'd be kinda sorta boring to you…"

Pyrrha tapped her chin for a moment. "I… suppose I'm just happy as long as there isn't any cameras or anything… it might sounds a little silly, but I'd like to try some Atlesian cuisine?" The teen awkwardly fidgeted. "I've never tried it before here, and a culture's food is best where it comes from, as they say."

Ruby hadn't expected that Pyrrha wanted to eat the food, but at least that's something! "So let's go someplace for lunch right after the fight?" Ruby scratched her head. "I don't know any good restaurants he-" Her eyes widened. "I know! I could call Penny, she'd know… wait. Nope." _Right, robots don't eat food._

"Huh?" Pyrrha stared curiously at her. "Penny? You mean the orange-haired Atlas student with all the swords?" _That's right, I never introduced them!_

"Yup!" _Uh, reasons that Penny wouldn't know good food that doesn't include her being a robot._ "She's um, she doesn't like Atlesian food. Upsets her stomach or something" Ruby managed to stutter out before another thought occurred. "I know, I could always ask Weiss!"

"Ruby, our scrolls won't go outside of the kingdom," Pyrrha giggled. "We couldn't reach Weiss from here, unless we go to the CCT tower."

That sounded like a disproportionately large amount of effort to Ruby. "…then I guess we could just pick a restaurant at random?" Pyrrha gave a happy nod in return.

"That sounds like a grand plan!"

* * *

"Good luck!"

Ruby yelled back at Pyrrha after she gave her a quick hug and zipped off into the stands.

"Thank you!" Pyrrha waved towards her friend, who slipped from her view shortly afterward into the myriad of hallways and people. _Now then, I believe that I'm supposed to meet with sponsor for this before the actual demonstration begins?_

In most cases, Pyrrha had planned out the whole event just as much as was needed to know how to efficiently get to what was being asked of her, do it, and then leave. With the addition of Ruby and turning it into a far longer excursion, she was in less of a hurry to head back to Beacon as soon as possible.

"Ah, Miss Nikos, there you are!" An immaculately dressed man with a SDC identification card strolled up to her. "We were wondering where you had gone. I trust that you are enjoying your stay?" A single nod was all that he needed before leading her deeper into the building. "Excellent, now then, let us go over what we would like to have happen."

Pyrrha nodded again and listened intently. "While this is a live combat demonstration to show off the capabilities of our product, we also understand that it'd be bad publicity for either of us if one were to lose. Either your reputation or ours."

The din of footsteps became muted as the two went through a checkpoint. "The match will have a two minute timer. Once the time has passed, assuming neither you nor it are on the ground, we'll consider it a success." The SDC employee stopped before a door. He turned around and looked Pyrrha directly in the eyes, unsettlingly yellow eyes staring unflinching at her.

"We specifically requested you because of your combat prowess; however, we would also like to have this be a good demonstration of what our product's capabilities. So, if possible, try not to hog the limelight."

Pyrrha gave a quick nod, after it became evidently clear that the man was making sure that the rules were clear. "Sounds reasonable. I'll endeavour to make sure that it happens."

"Then we've reached an accord." He gestured to the door. "If you could kindly wait in here for a few minutes, someone will come by to lead you to the arena when the demonstration occurs." Waiting just long enough to see Pyrrha open the door and step into the room, the man left.

Pyrrha double checked Milo and Akoúo before glancing towards the wall-mounted clock. _They did say a few minutes – I wish they said how many._ She let out a long sigh as she went back to her equipment.

Waiting was never Pyrrha's strong suit.

Her thoughts had a tendency to focus, almost obsessively, on something during the lull before the storm, such as now.

When she had started to compete in tournaments, the fear of getting harmed, that'd she get mangled in the melee haunted her in those final moments before a match. A few victories later and that fear was no longer of physical harm but of harm to her reputation – when would the time come when she'd no longer be the 'Invincible Girl'?

During the Vytal tournament, it certainly seemed like that time had finally come… but that defeat never came. Pyrrha shook her head with a light laugh. _This isn't even a real match, so there is no reason to even worry about that._ Without something to focus on, something to obsess over as Pyrrha sat in solitude, her mind began to wander.

_This shouldn't be too bad._ Pyrrha mused to herself as she took a seat in the room. _Two minutes isn't all that long, and that means the rest of the day should be free._ That was one of the nice things about doing things with a sponsor – Pyrrha wasn't the one that had to stay for questions after the event since it wasn't about her so much as the product she was promoting. _Then I get to have fun._

What a funny idea – having fun on a sponsored trip. _I'd be lying if I said I wasn't looking forward to wherever we end up in a few hours… I really hope Ruby doesn't mind too much going to a restaurant with me._ Honestly, Pyrrha had been fine with going wherever Ruby wanted to; that was why she had looked for things that'd be interesting to her friend more so than herself when planning the trip.

Which was why when Ruby had asked what Pyrrha wanted to do, she'd been so surprised and even a bit giddy. Considering that Pyrrha was the one to invite Ruby, she personally felt like the situation was akin to a guest and a host. It was proper to have the guest be the one catered to, as opposed to the host.

_Then again,_ _I suppose I'm as much as a guest as I am a host?_ Giving a small shrug, Pyrrha glanced back towards the clock before returning Milo and Akoúo to her back. Seconds slowly ticked by as Pyrrha let out another sigh. _I suppose when you have something to look forward makes the wait all the more unbearable. _

A grin stretched across her lips. _Still, it's not every day I get to spend a weekend in a different kingdom with my best friend. This is going to be so much fun! _

"Miss Nikos?" The representative knocked on the door. "The demonstration is about to start."

Pyrrha stretched for a moment before heading out the way she came.

* * *

"…and here to help demonstrate its capabilities, is the winner of the 39th Vytal Tournament and four time champion of the Mistral Regionals, Pyrrha Nikos!"

Pyrrha flashed a smile to the one enthusiastic clapper in the low smattering of polite applause. _So that's where Ruby is. _

Unlike tournaments, this was not exactly a public event. Rather, it was one for those who could afford to put money towards further research and development of whatever was showcased. Polite applause was merely just that, a formality. It was expected and so it was given.

"Facing off against Miss Nikos is a very special prototype, something that the Schnee Dust Company research team is very happy with, the new Atlesian knight!" However, what emerged from the other side of the arena was not the awkward-looking android that was so commonly seen on the streets.

A humanoid wearing a non-descript pair of long pants and a t-shirt that seemed roughly Pyrrha's height walked steadily towards her. Pyrrha didn't even think it was robot until she noticed its pale eyes staring blankly ahead.

Emerald eyes narrowed at her opponent as Pyrrha tried to assess android. _It looks human… almost? Where are its weapons? _All previous versions of the Atlesian knight series had at least a gun or a sword, yet Pyrrha couldn't see one anywhere on it.

"The hope with this model is to make it look a little less scary, which is why the materials are completely biosynthetic!" A low murmur of interest started amongst the attendees at the words as Pyrrha continued to stare it down. "Considering it's a first of its kind, we hope that our gallant Miss Nikos isn't too underwhelmed."

Pyrrha cracked an understanding smile at the clearly false humble tone before the announcer started to ramble on about technical capabilities – the strings of unfamiliar numbers and words held no meaning to her. Instead, her eyes drifted to the red-clad figure waving at her from the back of the stands.

_Well, if nothing else, at least Ruby is excited._ Giving a weary sigh, Pyrrha drew Milo and Akoúo before settling into a ready stance. "Miss Nikos, are you ready?"

Pyrrha gave a very slight, but visible nod. "Yes."

"Begin."

The android was gone before the man finished the final syllable, a blur rocketing towards Pyrrha. With a loud crack, artificial skin smashed against Pyrrha's armlet, forcing her right arm back.

Gritting her teeth, Pyrrha turned the impact into a spin, going for a spinning slash with Milo, only for the android to bend back in a way that'd be impossible for any living creature - at least any that had bones – allowing the blade to pass harmlessly over it.

Ignoring the impossibilities of what the android had done, Pyrrha found herself backpedaling as it let loose a chamber kick. Catching the bottom of its calf with the rim of Akoúo, Pyrrha pushed up – boosted by her aura, she sent the android into the air.

That only added a vertical velocity to an already impressive horizontal one, causing it to careen just barely over Pyrrha's head. The android wasn't deterred in the slightest. It twisted around into a backwards axe kick, sending Pyrrha tumbling forwards.

_Well that was a thing._ Pyrrha turned her tumble into a roll, coming up in a combat stance, watching the android stiffly right itself before facing her again. _Defend or attack? Attack made sense… if this was a real fight._ No, Pyrrha was supposed to have this android show off its capabilities against her.

Long moments passed as the two stared each other down, vivid emerald eyes met by blank, colourless lens before Pyrrha broke the tension. Shifting Milo into its rifle form, Pyrrha fired off a handful of rounds, aiming for anywhere but the center-mass. The android effortlessly dodged them before slowly walking towards Pyrrha, prompting her to shift Milo into its spear form.

Once more the android vanished in Pyrrha's vision before instincts kicked in and she swept the spear, meeting the android's shin in mid-spin kick with the pole. Following what Pyrrha had done earlier, it went with the motion, continuing the spin, and brought the brute power from the centripetal force of the motion to bear.

Pyrrha's vision went hazy for a moment as its elbow smashed against her head, her footing slipped, as she fell to one knee. Even with aura, a strong hit to the head could daze anyone – Pyrrha included. Immediately the android backed up. "Would you like to continue?"

"Would I like to continue?" It took Pyrrha a moment to clear her head and unsteadily get to her feet. Giving a small flourish with Milo, she pointed it at the android. "This isn't over yet by a long shot."

The android gave the slightest of nods before raising an arm up and beckoning Pyrrha towards it with a gesture. _Is this thing mocking me?_

Regardless, time was ticking, and Pyrrha wasn't going to be the one who stalled the fight.

Pulling back her arm, Pyrrha lobbed Akoúo at it before breaking into a charge. The android effortlessly jumped over it right as Pyrrha jabbed her spear where it was going. Instead of trying to dodge, the robot knocked it aside as it sailed over Pyrrha's head.

Even before the rush of the wind – the sound of the android raising its leg to kick her - Akoúo was already spinning back towards them. A loud ringing sound rang out as the android's foot impacted the shield before it landed.

Spinning around, Pyrrha swung Milo in a wide sweep, forcing her opponent to backpedal to avoid it. The moment the spear had passed it, the robot sprinted at her. Switching the weapon back into a sword form, the flat edge of the blade caught the android's forearm in mid-swing, knocking it sideways.

Bringing back Milo into a backhand swipe, the motion abruptly stopped midway. Eyes darted towards the cause. The android had grabbed onto the pommel with its left hand, twisting Pyrrha's wrist outward, forcing her to let go of it.

The moment Pyrrha released her weapon, she used her semblance to fire the pommel-mounted gun, wrenching the weapon from the android's grip. Quickly side stepping, Pyrrha grabbed on to it before blocking a strike with Akoúo and backpedaling.

The synthetic fighter wasn't going to let her have a moment to breathe, barreling into Pyrrha and eliciting a painful 'oomph' from the redhead in mid-step before tackling her to the ground. The moment that Pyrrha's back impacted the steel floor, she brought a knee up to her chin, the protruding armour catching the synth in the solar plexus and hurling it a good half dozen feet over her. Following the motion, Pyrrha rolled backwards, coming to her feet and narrowly jumping over a sweeping low-kick, twisting her body to lash out with Milo.

The tip of it caused a narrow cut across the t-shirt clad chest of the android, a thick viscous white fluid dripping from the wound. The android's head dipped down, as if the pupil-less eyes were assessing damage before it turned back to Pyrrha. Reaching down to its pants, the robot withdrew two seemingly plain combat knives.

_Just plain knives?_ Pyrrha's eyes narrowed_. No tricks, just... two combat knives?_ In a blink of an eye, one of those knives was inches away from her face, missing by a fraction of an inch as Pyrrha dove out of the way… only for the other knife to slam against Akoúo, throwing the teen off her balance.

Pyrrha was fighting a very different fight as she tried to fight off the impossibly fast slashes. It wasn't so much that Pyrrha could see the attacks coming as much as good guesswork. The android pressed the advantage as steel rang against steel in a flurry of blows. _I have to disarm it. _

Stopping the slow retreat, Pyrrha bashed Akoúo against the synth's chest, trapping one of its arms and knifes before banging Milo's pommel against the stunned android's trapped hand. Unfortunately, unlike a living creature – or even a Grimm - the android's grip did not lessen from pain.

The other knife came whirling towards Pyrrha's face, only missing at the last second by a quick use of her semblance. A usage that did not slip unnoticed by the android as the steel blade went sideways at the last moment.

Instead of trying again, the android jumped back, back-stepping far faster than Pyrrha could keep up and threw the knives at her. Even as Pyrrha started to tap on her semblance to send them back, she realized that a mistake had been made.

The skin on the android's left arm peeled back, revealing a deep crimson glow from a huge stock of fire dust. As the hand swung back on a hinge, Pyrrha realized what exactly it was and tried to make herself as small as possible behind Akoúo.

A fat, bright red beam of light vaporized the knives in an instant.

Pyrrha was barely able to bring Akoúo up in time as the laser shattered against the shield, the hundreds of reflected streams shooting off.

Pain racked Pyrrha's arms as Akoúo was pushed back. And back. Heels slid against the steel floor as Pyrrha braced against it. Drawing deeply into her aura reserves, Pyrrha took a polarity enhanced step forward. Then another.

Time slowed to a painful crawl as Pyrrha trudged closer and closer to the android, only possible by pulling her armour forward with her semblance. It felt like hours by the time she reached the android, although it may have been a handful of seconds for all she could tell, before jabbing at it with Milo's spear form.

Instantly the beam cut out, and all the power that had been used to stay steady against the attack turned into forward momentum. Distracted by Milo, the robot was caught completely blind when Pyrrha slammed the rim of Akoúo against the android's chin, not only following through but rocketing it in a downwards thrust. The android didn't just crack the floor when it hit the ground, it bounced.

Pyrrha wasn't going to let it have a second of respite, however, jumping after the moment the synth went airborne. As the android reached its apex, Pyrrha hooked Milo around its neck, positioning her back against its own and pulled. The resulting effort caused the two to start spinning head over heels towards the ground.

The first hint that something was wrong was when the android's elbow crashed into Pyrrha's kidney, the pain making her see stars. The second was when Milo was yanked away from its neck, flipping Pyrrha off the android. Only by pure instinct she dodged out of a jab aimed at her face.

Both combatants slammed into the ground. Pyrrha turned it into a roll to lessen the impact. As emerald eyes blinked open, Pyrrha saw red. Glowing, pulsating, red. The red's intensity became blinding as Pyrrha realized that she was staring down the business end of the android's arm cannon.

Instincts kicked in before thought. Milo's enhanced speed made it a blur as the blade bit into the arm at the elbow. The red intensity abated as the arm came off at the joint.

_I wasn't supposed to do that_. Pyrrha came to a standstill as the twitching arm thudded onto the ground, her eyes widening in horror. _This is supposed to be a show, not a fight, this is bad, this is very very ba- urk!_

Distress turned into fear as the unscathed arm shot forward and clamped around Pyrrha's neck in a vice grip, crushing her neck-guard around her throat. Pupil-less eyes stared back unblinkingly as the android effortlessly lifted Pyrrha off her feet and into the air. _Can't… breathe…_

The world turned sideways for her as the android proceeded to slam her into the ground, cracks growing like a spider web out from the impact, before placing both of its knees over her arms, pinning her weapons.

Pyrrha felt heavy; every struggle to throw it off felt like every inch of her was laden with weights. It was times like these that Pyrrha was thankful for her semblance. It was a robot, ergo it had to have metal in.

Yet as Pyrrha glowed black from her aura… nothing happened. It took a moment for her sluggish thoughts to realize why. _"…fully biosynthetic android…" _Biosynthetic flesh… nothing that her polarity could affect. Nothing at all. _I can't lose… not like this…_

Whipping Akoúo up in the air, the disc flew up a weak half dozen of feet before it hung above the pair and started to spin like a buzz saw under her power, aiming for it's arm-

**BUZZZZZ!**

The android immediately released it's hold on her before backing away.

_Wha…?_ Emerald eyes sluggishly looked around until seeing the timer. Two minutes had ran out. The demonstration - no, the fight - was over.

Instantly, Pyrrha cut her supply of aura to Akoúo, causing the shield to thud painfully onto her stomach painfully. With the android having backed off, it didn't change the fact that Pyrrha's neck guard was crushed around her trachea, prompting the redhead to alter it with her power so she could breathe.

A few seconds passed as Pyrrha's breathing came in great, greedy gulps, a steady stream of life-giving oxygen passing unhindered into her. It was only when a shadow loomed over her, which Pyrrha's focus shifted from breathing.

The android had an outstretched hand towards her. Pyrrha slowly took it, and was pulled to her feet… by the previously detached left arm.

Pyrrha numbly stood there as the commentator started to ramble about how she'd been a great demonstrator, and a good sport. The moment that it was appropriate for her to make her exit, Pyrrha took it, heels rapidly clacking as she went into the make-shift locker room. Slumping against a wall, Pyrrha pulled out her scroll.

Immediately it pulled up the aura levels of her team, however Pyrrha was drawn to her own aura level.

A flashing red 7% greeted her.

* * *

Editor/BETA: ASouthernRussian

* * *

AU: That's not good for a plethora of reasons.

I think, or at least, I hope that everyone here knows what that means~

A bit of a request if that's okay, as well;

I don't actually do combat writing very often... the last time I think I actually did it was either for Wrath or chapter 11 of Acceptance nearly a year ago... if its possible, I'd really like to know how I did, if that's okay? I know people aren't here for combat stuff, but it's necessary to the plot, hence it's inclusion, sorry D:

Huzzah, I ACTUALLY GOT THIS DONE! I really didn't think that it was going to happen this month! :P Consequently, having something done July 1st is looking a bit unreasonable on my end, but I'll see what I can do! Real life has been stupidly time consuming and will only get worse… hence my uncertainty. I'm hoping to have something to release around early July for RTX stuff at the very least. An update of some kind, that is.

Any who, I hope everyone enjoys this, it was actually one of the longer chapters I've done, coming out to be roughly 6,000 words by the end. More than 1.5x the last two chapter lengths!

I also got to review responses a few days ago, so yay me?

I… really don't have much else to say? I'm so used to rambling for hours on these things that it feels weird to not have more to say…

As per usual, we have an omake for Jaune and Velvet by the talented Super Saiyan Cyndaquil!

Thank you for reading and I hope everyone has a wonderful day! :D

* * *

**Omake - ****Guest author: Super Saiyan Cyndaquil:**

"Popcorn?" Jaune's eye twitched as a large bucket of kernels was violently shoved next to his face.

If he was being honest, the popcorn actually sounded pretty good. The problem was, the bucket was now separating him and Velvet. Something no doubt his little sister was well aware of.

He should've known something like this was going to happen.

Really, this whole thing had been too good to be true. Not only did Velvet agree to go on a date with him in the first place, the whole thing had actually been going pretty well.

Her teammates didn't try to intimidate him when he picked her up at her room. He hadn't made a bumbling idiot of himself while they walked to the movie theater. She even laughed at a few of his jokes (Thank God he took the time to write those down instead of studying for the history test that he totally bombed).

So it was only natural that it would all fall apart the moment he got to the theater where they ran into his spiteful younger sister, Autumn. How she convinced their parents to let her come to Vale City with just her friends and no supervision he would never know. Although he was definitely going to call home to complain about it.

Of all his sisters, why did it have to be Autumn? It would've been fine if they hadn't gone into the same show together where she now sat behind him, constantly kicking his chair whenever he tried to grab Velvet's hand or in the instance where she leaned her head over to rest it on his shoulder there was a sudden bucket between them.

"Autumn… watch the movie." He whispered this back at her through grit teeth, taking every ounce of willpower not to knock the bucket out of her hand. Thankfully she retracted it a moment later, removing the urge.

"I'm trying to, but there's this couple in front of me that can't keep their hands to themselves. It's kinda disgusting." Don't strangle her. Don't strangle her. Resist the urge to strangle her.

There would be no faster way to ruin this date then getting them kicked out because he dove over the chair to choke the life out of his little sister. Although this date was probably already as good as ruined anyways. No way Velvet was going to want to go out with him again after this.

He glanced at her almost fearfully, hoping maybe she was at least trying to enjoy the movie and not letting them distract her. She must have seen him look, because her eyes turned to meet his and to his complete shock she gave him what looked like a comforting smile.

Turning around completely, Velvet looked back at Autumn. He wasn't sure what he expected her to say, but it certainly wasn't what she went with.

"Do you mind if I have some popcorn?"

"Umm…" Even Autumn sounded confused by the sudden question. Maybe even a little suspicious. "Sure, I guess." Although she must have sensed there was no harm meant because she held the bucket forward once again and Velvet took a generous handful.

Jaune almost passed the interaction up for Velvet honestly just wanting some popcorn. That seemed to be the case as she turned back to face the screen and popped the first couple kernels in her mouth.

The third one, however, she held out towards him, a shy grin on her face. It took him several seconds to understand what she wanted him to do and even once he did he was a little hesitant. This was also an opportunity he couldn't possibly pass up so he opened his mouth wide. Velvet's grin became a little more pronounced as she placed the kernel in his mouth.

The wretched choking noise Autumn made behind them was instantaneous.

As if she didn't hear it at all, Velvet fed him another. After the third one, they heard Autumn whisper something to one of her friends and then the sound of shuffling as they swapped seats.

He was definitely going to have to ask Velvet how she knew that would work later. For now, he figured he could actually go back to enjoying the movie, but not before getting to do what he had really wanted to this whole time.

Velvet finished the rest of the popcorn and went to place her now empty hand back down on the armrest. Mustering up his courage, Jaune reached over and grabbed that small delicate hand, linking his fingers through hers. In response, she leaned over and rested her head on his shoulder. Jaune gave a small sigh of content.

Now this was how a date was supposed to go.


	23. Chapter 23: Boiling

**Chapter Twenty Three: Boiling**

* * *

_Where'd Pyrrha go?_

Pyrrha never told Ruby what to do or where to go once the demonstration was over and seeing as she had left the stage, that left the younger teen with no clue on what to do next.

Ruby had half a mind to simply wait right there, where the demonstration was, but she didn't know how long she'd have to wait. _What if Pyrrha was still talking with those Atlesian people? Would she know where to find me? Where was Pyrrha in the first place?_

Starting to feel nervous, Ruby quickly pulled out her scroll and typed out a quick 'where are you?' message to Pyrrha before sending it.

Five minutes later, the message had yet to be received. _Okay, maybe head to where we last saw each other?_ Ruby wasn't sure where that was, but it seemed better to do something rather than nothing. Still, as she wandered through the pristine halls of the SDC, Ruby couldn't help but feel totally los-

"-that was a particularly good show, Miss Nikos." The oddly pompous voice stopped Ruby in her tracks. _Aha, found you!_ Ruby made a beeline for the voice, coming around a corner where a SDC employee was talking to Pyrrha, who paid very little attention to the man and instead kept checking Milo.

"I know we asked you to let the product show off its capabilities, but we didn't realize that you were such the showma- show_woman_. Several times we thought that we'd have to end the match early." If this was meant as a compliment, Pyrrha's face didn't show it. "We'd be greatly interested in having you in another event. School permitting, naturally."

As Pyrrha looked up to respond, her eyes caught sight of Ruby standing awkwardly in the hallway, who waved quickly. "I'll be sure to talk to my agent about it, is there anything else?" There was a coolness in her words that threw Ruby off.

The man shook his head – which was all Pyrrha needed before sheathing Milo and stalking away, her heels clacking rapidly against the floor. She seemed to be in such a hurry that she didn't seem to notice Ruby standing right there. Ruby watched, dumbfounded for a moment, before catching up. "H-hey Pyrrha, is everything alright?"

The clacking slowed as they rounded a corner, Pyrrha favouring Ruby with an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry about that, it was getting frustrating listening to him." Crimson hair swayed as Pyrrha seemingly shook out her frustration. "Sorry for not coming to find you, SDC wanted to have a word, and, well…" Pyrrha gestured to the SDC representative far behind them.

"Oh! It's fine!" Ruby put her hands up disarmingly. "I'm just glad I found you! Um, did your scroll run out of charge?"

"Huh?" Emerald eyes blinked in confusion for a moment before understanding dawned. "It's, er, yes. I forgot to charge it." Pyrrha stated awkwardly after a pause. "Sorry."

"We'll charge it when we get back to the hotel." Ruby shrugged before a giddy smile stretched her lips. She sped ahead of Pyrrha, grabbing her hand. "Guess what time it is!"

Pyrrha curiously stared at her for a moment. "Around noo-"

"Time to find you an authentic Atlesian restaurant!"

* * *

Finding said restaurant was proving easier said than done.

On the one hand, there was no immediate need to go to a restaurant immediately. Ruby knew she had a bigger appetite than Pyrrha, and she could still feel that breakfast sloshing around in her stomach. In fact, it might have been smarter for them to have done one of the things that Pyrrha had suggested, such as visiting the SDC's research division; after all, that had been a short walk away from where the demonstration took place. On the other hand…

Ruby was determined to make sure Pyrrha enjoy the vacation, especially after it became abundantly clear that she had done a lot of planning to make sure that Ruby would enjoy with no thought for herself. It seemed only right to return the favour. _I just want Pyrrha to have fun._

"I… uh, think we might be lost, sorry." Ruby could have sworn they'd passed the same street corner for the fourth time_, _which made her regret not consulting a map before zipping off into the foreign city_._ "Uh, think we should go left or straight?"

Turning towards her Pyrrha to see what she thought, Ruby was greeted by a curiously blank stare. "Pyrrha?" Ruby's brow furrowed at the lack of a response. "Remnant to Pyrrha, are you there?"

"Huh?" Pyrrha finally flinched from her daze when Ruby waved a hand in front of her. "Sorry, I zoned out for a moment." A slight frown crossed Pyrrha's face. "What were you saying?"

"Oh, that's okay! I, uh, kinda don't know where we are…" Ruby awkwardly rubbed the back of her neck as she stared lamely at the ground. "I really should have gotten a map or something…"

"Hm." Pyrrha looked at the street signs for a moment before giving a small shrug. "I don't know either, perhaps we could ask for directions?"

It was as Ruby was looking around for someone to ask for directions that she happened to see something of interest, and an idea struck her. _It might not be a restaurant, but it's something that Pyrrha is gonna find really cool!_ "Hey Pyrrha, you'll never guess what I just found!" Grabbing onto her friend's hand, Ruby dashed towards a shop, pulling Pyrrha along and into the cramped open shop. "Ta-da, an origami store!"

Ruby expected a number of possible reactions from Pyrrha - gasping in surprise, rushing into the store, perhaps even thanking her with a hug – well, Ruby was just hopeful with that one. None of those things happened as Pyrrha blankly stared at the building for a few moments. "Oh, that's interesting." Not excitement or anything remotely positive, just a neutral reaction.

_I thought Pyrrha really liked origami?_ Ruby could distinctly remember the gleeful smile on Pyrrha's face when she showed her metal origami bird over the video call or small collection of paper creatures on the tall redhead's desk. "Um do you, uh… not do origami anymore?"

"Whenever I get some free time." Pyrrha offhandedly answered as she started to flip through a book on intermediate bird designs. _Maybe I was just expecting too much? I mean, Pyrrha does it daily, so maybe it's not as exciting now… kinda like how I get bored with a video game after a while._ After all, Pyrrha was browsing the selection at the shop as Ruby watched, so she did at least seem interested. _Just not as much as before..._

_No, she is definitely still into origami_. During the flight to Atlas, Ruby had definitely seen Pyrrha amusing herself by folding their little napkins into cranes. _Maybe it was something else?_ A not quite forgotten fear started to worm its way back into Ruby's head. _What if I did something weird?_

Immediately her thoughts turned back to the course of the day. _I didn't weird her out when I grabbed her hand?_ Ruby shook her head after a moment, _no, that can't be it. Pyrrha does that to me all the time when she's excited, so that's a normal thing to do when you're excited, right? Right._ Her thoughts went further back. Nor was the hug for good luck before the live demonstration something out of the blue, _I always hug her a lot..._

Heat started to rise to Ruby's cheeks at another thought, causing her to instinctively turn away from Pyrrha to hide the growing blush. _What about when I laced her up?_ That was something that Ruby _definitely_ didn't do on a daily basis. _But I was just acting natural, so that can't be it either._Turning back around, Ruby found Pyrrha on the same page of the book, oblivious to her tortured musings.

_Maybe I'm just reading too deeply into this way too deeply._ Ruby let out a long sigh, earning a quick glance from Pyrrha before the redhead returned to window browsing. _I'm being too much of a worry wort… is this what being like Dad is like?_

"Ruby, this is nice, and I really do appreciate this, really, I do, but I'm a bit hungry now." Pyrrha's voiced pulled Ruby from her thoughts as the tall redhead put the book back onto its shelf. "Do you think we could go back to finding a restaurant?"

* * *

"…and that's why it's called Bumblebee."

"Oh, I see." Pyrrha politely nodded as Ruby started to munch on her meal. "I always thought it was just because the colours were similar."

"Mmf mhmm." Ruby realized the error of trying to talk with her mouth full as Pyrrha stared curiously on. "Sorry, nope, it's actually the other way around!"

"Interesting, I would never have guessed." Pyrrha nodded after a moment before staring back down at her salad, idly picking at it with her fork before glancing back up. "That makes as much sense as anything, I suppose?"

"Yup!" Ruby started to reach for the next piece of bread before her hand wavered and stopped. _Pyrrha hasn't had any yet, and I've had some already_. Glumly, Ruby looked down at the remains of her meal before starting to mirror Pyrrha and pick at it.

_For someone who said she was hungry _and _looking forward to Atlesian food, Pyrrha sure isn't eating much of her food_. Pyrrha _did_ say that she was hungry, yet the half-eaten remains of her dinner would say otherwise.._. I thought she would have been more excited for this place._ Ruby's lips compressed into a frown. _After all, she sounded so excited about it this morning and wanted to leave the origami shop to eat._

Besides, Ruby knew that Pyrrha liked salads a lot. That's what she ate at the cafeteria for lunch most days. Yet now, she was barely touching it. _Maybe it doesn't taste good? _After a moment, curiosity got the better of Ruby. "Was the salad bad?"

The older redhead kept picking at it for a few more seconds before slowly looking up. "Hm? Oh. The salad is fine, but I just don't seem to have much of an appetite for at the moment, I'm afraid." Pyrrha gave a small shrug.

"Aww." Ruby set down her fork after a moment. "I would have thought you'd work up an appetite after that fight against the android thingy."

"Perhaps I ate bit a tad too much for breakfast." The corners of Pyrrha's mouth inched upwards by the smallest of margins as she flashed Ruby an apologetic smile. "Sorry."

"That's okay!" Ruby guiltily rubbed the back of her head. "It's kinda my fault since you only ate because I wanted to."

"It's fine." Pyrrha reassured Ruby before returning to picking at her food.

The corners of Ruby's mouth dipped downward into a frown as the silence grew.

"So what do you wanna do tomorrow?" Ruby blurted out, prompting a look of confusion from her friend. "Since, y'know, we have another day before our flight back."

"Right, hm." Pyrrha gave a small shrug after a minute. "I'm fine with whatever you want to do." Pyrrha's left hand gestured out in a sweeping motion. "I got to eat some Atlesian food and go to that origami shop, so I'm content."

_You sure don't seem that way._ "Are you sure? All those things you mentioned didn't sound like things you'd exactly be intereste-"

"It'll be fine," Pyrrha stated with a harshness that surprised both Ruby and herself before almost guiltily returning to her food. This time, Ruby didn't break the silence as it grew every minute. _Maybe I'm being too pushy? _Pyrrha let out a long sigh. "I think I may have just confused tiredness with hunger, it's been a long day."

"Oh, okay." Ruby felt her excitement deflate. _I thought she was excited about this whole thing. I know I was... but maybe that's just it. Maybe I was the only one who was actually excited. _Truthfully, the entire day Pyrrha hadn't been energetic in the slightest - not since the match, anyway. _Have I been projecting my excitement onto her?_ Ruby thought with more than a little bit of guilt.

When the waiter came around asking if they cared for something else, it was for the first time that Ruby could say that dessert wasn't on her mind.

* * *

_That turned out to be a disappointing day._

Ruby let out a sigh as the shower water ran through her hair_. _The moment the two had made it back to their room, Pyrrha had decided to turn in early and climbed into her bed, not even bothering to change into her sleepwear.

_I guess I thought she'd be less worn out, like the last time she'd been in a demonstration match. _A faint smile tugged at Ruby's lips. That time, they two had been able to spend the day enjoying the ValeExpo. Then again, unlike the last time, the opponent this time was actually competent. _I wonder if Penny is related to it at all…_

_But Pyrrha was the one who was excited about it being a mini-vacation. Maybe she'll be more up to stuff tomorrow? _Truth be told, Pyrrha had seemed rather off ever since the match._ She'll probably be back up to snuff after a goodnight's rest!_

Ruby's musings ran short as the water started to lose some of its warmth, signaling that it was time to get out. A quick change of clothes later, and Ruby was left wondering what to do for the rest of her evening. Before she could get much further, however, the sound of her scroll going off got her attention. Scrambling towards it, Ruby pressed the talk button only to be greeted by an unfamiliar voice.

"Hello, you are receiving an inter-continental call from the _Nora Valkyrie_ in the kingdom of _Vale_. Would you like to accept this call?" _Nora?_ Ruby was definitely not expecting a call from her, but then a lot of things that day were not going as expected.

"Heya Ruby!" The bubbly voice erupted from the speaker as a video of her friend's face was followed a few seconds later. "Is Pyrrha around?"

"Um yeah, but she just went to sleep, uh, sorry." Ruby whispered as she turned down the volume to try and keep from waking up the aforementioned girl in the room. "What's up?"

"Oh! I couldn't get a hold of her scroll. It kept on saying that the device was turned off or something?"

"Yeah, I think she forgot to charge it b-"

"Nora?" A very tired voice asked quietly as the sheets on Pyrrha's bed rustled. Ever so slowly Pyrrha peeked over the sheets to Ruby's scroll as the gears started turning in her head. "Is Nora on call?"

"Yup. She wants to talk to you if that's okay?" Pyrrha blearily nodded as Ruby handed her the device. "I'm gonna get something from the vending machine, want anything?" Pyrrha shook her head as Ruby went out into the hall.

A few minutes later, Ruby returned to the rather energetic rambling of Nora_. I probably should give them some privacy._ Ruby knew what it was like to have someone listen in on a conversation, and by someone she definitely meant her dad.

"Nora." Something in the way Pyrrha said her name reminded Ruby of how curtly she spoke with the SDC representative earlier.

"-so then I said, 'Ren could totally beat you in DDR, he's the DDR champion!' but Jaune didn't believe me at all, so we went to the arcade for a face off, and Jaune got his butt kicked!"

Pyrrha politely nodded along, albeit in a fashion that reeked of annoyance. "That's very nice Nora, but-"

"Then Jaune challenged Ren to a rematch, and they had a draw which it was insane! The guy behind the counter said he had never seen that happen before and he'd been there for a long long time!"

"Nora." Pyrrha's tone had an edge to it that Ruby had seldom heard before as the redhead's grip on the sheets tightened. "I-"

"So then we had a super SUDDEN DEATH MATCH, with this secret DDR machine that the guy had in the back, with like, extra speed modes that you can't even use without a special code! The shopkeeper kicked both Jaune and Ren's butts at it at the same tim-"

"NORA!"

Ruby froze where she was by the door, not daring to move. The last time she heard someone shout like that was when her dad caught her procrastinating for a big test. It was a big voice, used by adults to shut children up. But here Pyrrha was, using that same tone on one of her friends…

Nora's uneasy voice broke the tense silence. "Pyrrha, are yo-"

"I'm. Fine." Ruby peeked around the corner and saw Pyrrha gritting her teeth as she said this. "I've just had a long, bad day, and the last thing I want to hear is you jabbering on about some stupid dance game." The weight of what she had said seemed to suddenly hit her as she froze for a few seconds and deflated. "Sorry. I didn't mean that… I'm just not in the mood to talk to anyone right now."

Pyrrha didn't wait for Nora's reply before hanging up.

Terrified at seeing her friend like that, Ruby wasn't sure if she wanted to return to the room. She was already nervous about annoying her earlier in the day, and she certainly wasn't keen on setting her off now. Ruby wasn't going back into the room until she heard Pyrrha turn over the covers and begin snoozing.

_This is not okay. _Ruby slumped down to the floor, her head spinning.

_I'm going to have to talk to her, grumpy or not._

* * *

Editor/BETA: ASouthernRussian

* * *

AU: This is going to make for a very interesting next chapter, wouldn't you say so?

I'M FINALLY DONE! SCREW THIS CHAPTER! IT CAN DIE IN A FUCKING HOLE! AHHHHH!

xXx

**EXTREMELY IMPORTANT:**

Due to reasons that the text below makes clear, I'm still wavering on whether this chapter was up to what was expected in quality. Do you, the readers, think it was up to normal quality or do you think it was below the normal standard and needs a rewrite?

Please leave what you think in the reviews!

xXx

Sorry, just, this chapter took forever to write. I wasn't able to start writing until the 30th of June, and in the eight or so solid days of writing, I've had something akin to 4 or 5 major rewrites. To keep it short, the issue was basically Ruby was supposed to think her crush was causing Pyrrha to act how she was, but there was no way I could finagle the logic jumps to make it work and still make sense. There was just no way.

If this chapter makes any sense, it is solely thanks to the work of ASouthernRussian who helped rewrite significant chunks of this chapter.

In regards to last chapter, there seems to be a serious case of confusion.

Q: Is that android the new villain of the series? Is that what this series is turning into?

A: No, the intent for the synthetic android was to provide an opponent for Pyrrha to credibly have a hard time against, and since it's made out of plastics, it's basically outside of her control. It serves the role of a catalyst for Pyrrha's further growth.

Q: Did Pyrrha fight Genos?!

A: Y'know, I was trying to go for a more Mercy Graves from Young Justice thing, where it looks human but has a arm cannon, BUT SCREW THAT NOISE, YES SHE FOUGHT GENOS :D :D :D :D :D

Things will start to make far more sense when the next chapter comes out!

Speaking of which, I'm shooting for some time in early August for chapter 24, however, it's completely possible given the projected length of it, that I'll be posted in September. Add to the fact that I'm going to be doing a lengthy Pyrrha/Ruby one-shot this month for the MonCon competition and you can see why. I may also be posting less frequently as I try and finish my entry for it too (sorry!)!

Also, I must apologize for not getting to review responses. Usually I wait until I finish the draft for the next chapter and send it to ASouthernRussian, which is usually a week before release. However in the instance of the current chapter, I sent the draft to him less than 24 hours ago. So I haven't had time yet. D: In all honesty, this chapter's production felt a tad rushed, if only because I was busy for most of June followed by a huge lull in real life stuff for over a week.

Anywho, I've rambled on for long enough. This time I don't have an omake from Super Saiyan Cyndaquil. The new _Love Live! Sunshine!_ has locked it's claws onto him and dragged him into idol hell. Instead we have some stuff from Jo3mm, notably stuff that was inspired by previous drafts of this chapter.

Semi-related note: During chapter 17 and 18 of Acceptance, Ruby started wearing her Volume 4 outfit. When the art gets to that point as well, Pyrrha will have a new outfit for her second year (Jo3mm will design it! :D)

Thank you all for reading, I hope everyone has a wonderful day! :D

* * *

**Omake - Guest author: Jo3mm:**

_*Ruby at Weiss's Villa on top of a balcony under broken moonlight with Crescent Rose resting against a tabletop stood up*_

*_cue Spanish guitar quietly playing in the background*_

Ruby: Crescey, I must confess…

_*Pyrrha wiggles crescent rose with her polarity curiously off screen*_

Ruby: I-. . I've been seeing other weapons-

*_Crescey wiggles angrily_*

Ruby: I KNOW- IT'S MY FAULT I'M SORRY-

Ruby: I'm disgusted with myself… we were in the moment- I've never seen a sword of such stature

_*Ruby turns away from Crescent Rose tearing up a bit as she takes a breath to confess*_

Ruby: Their name is …

*_cue intense Spanish guitar riff and dramatic turn*_

Ruby: **_Milo…_**

_*CRESCEY WIGGLING INTENSIFIES*_

Ruby: CRESCEY, WAIT- NO- PLEASE DON'T- I CAN MAKE IT UP TO YOU- THEY DIDN'T DO ANYTHING TO YOU- IT WAS ME- CRESCEEEEEYYYYY

*_Crescey dissappears off screen as Ruby runs off after them*_

* * *

…I wasn't kidding when I said the drafts changed a lot. The bit this comes from is the first draft's restaurant scene during which Ruby was gushing over Akouo/Milo from the fight in the previous chapter. They were happier drafts…


	24. Chapter 24: Worth

**Chapter Twenty Four: Worth**

* * *

Pyrrha woke up feeling rather refreshed.

_I suppose a full night's rest would make anyone feel lively_. Pyrrha couldn't remember the last time since she had slept so much, with nary an annoying early morning alarm in earshot. All was serene, and it felt for a moment that nothing could ruin it.

Pyrrha let loose a massive yawn as she slowly sat up, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes before looking around. As the soft light fluttered through the curtains and illuminated the room, she noticed that she was not at her dorm room. It only took a moment for her to remember; _right, hotel in Atlas._

Soon after, all her memories from the days before came back to Pyrrha, particularly the previous day. It was as though her good mood was a balloon that had just been popped with an unsettling 'bang!' Pyrrha let herself fall back onto her bed, wanting nothing more but to hide deep into her sheets, alone with her thoughts.

_I lost_. That thought rang unpleasantly in her head. _I lost, plain and simple._ There was nothing simple about it at all - not for Pyrrha, anyway._ I can't even remember the last time that I did lose_. After winning for so long, Pyrrha had forgotten what it was like to taste defeat. More than that, though, Pyrrha couldn't understand why it all felt so painful. _Which it shouldn't be! I've lost before, it's a thing that happens to everyone._

Yet that didn't excuse the way she'd been acting towards Ruby. A frown etched itself deep into Pyrrha's face as her guilt grew. _She really was trying to make sure I had a fun time yesterday, but all I did was rain on her parade. She even tried to do the things I like, even though I was trying to go to places that she'd enjoy._ Worse still was the fact that she had invited Ruby on the trip, promising a fun mini-vacation, but was doing nothing but be grumpy when they finally had some free time. That wasn't the worst of it, however.

Pyrrha had never snapped at anyone like she snapped at Nora last night, and the shame at losing control of her emotions like that burned in her. _That was completely uncalled for on my part, and now she thinks I'm actually angry at her._ For such a robust girl, Nora had surprisingly thin skin, and Pyrrha could see that outburst crushing her friend. _Great, so not only have I been rude to my best friend, but Nora probably thinks I hate her. _The knot of guilt she felt twisted in her like a knife.

It frustrated Pyrrha that she couldn't understand why she was acting out to such a degree, even if she did lose. _I've never found Nora's rants to be that bad before; it's always fun to listen to her be excited about something even if it's a bit absurd… and I usually have far more fun with Ruby._

_What is wrong with me?_ Pyrrha pinched the bridge of her nose as she let out a defeated sigh. _I should call Nora first before trying to make it up with Ruby-_

The sound of the bathroom door squeaking open pulled Pyrrha from her thoughts as Ruby came out, while toweling off her hair, causing the sulking redhead to perk up a little. It was only a few seconds later that her footsteps came to a stop a few feet from Pyrrha's bed. "Oh, hey Pyrrha, you just waking up?"

"I've been up for a little while... just trying to get myself out of bed, to be honest." Pyrrha guiltily admitted, as a small smile stretched across her lips. "How long have you been up for?"

"Eh, an hour?" Ruby gave a small shrug as she dried her hair. "Did you sleep well?"

"Well enough," Pyrrha stated shortly after a moment.

"That's good… so what's up?"

"Hm?" Pyrrha noticed that Ruby was giving her a concerned look. "How do you mean?"

Ruby frowned; evidently, this wasn't the answer she was looking for. "You've been acting… _off_ since yesterday, so something has to be up."

"I'm fine Ruby, really." Pyrrha tried to put on the most reassuring smile she could muster, in an attempt to put her friend at ease.

The effort failed miserably as Ruby kept staring at her, clearly unconvinced. "We've been friends for a while, Pyrrha, so I can tell when something is up. Besides, I'm not RWBY's team leader for nothing, y'know…what's wrong?"

Pyrrha's halfhearted smile disappeared as she shied away from the perceptive silver eyes, giving a small sigh and fidgeting with the bed sheet. "It's… complicated."

"Well, maybe I can help?" Ruby hopefully suggested as she sat on the edge of the bed.

"Perhaps." Pyrrha favoured her with a small smile for a brief moment. "But it's something that I might need to solve on my own."

"O-oh. Okay." Ruby deflated with those words. "Are you sure?"

That was actually a really good question; _can I _really_ figure it out on my own?_

If the past day had been anything to go by, the answer would be a resounding "no". After all, if she had been able to figure out whatever was going on with herself, Pyrrha wouldn't have been in such a foul mood.

On one hand, Pyrrha had wanted to just be left alone yesterday, and not have to think about anything; Ruby not picking up on anything being amiss was exactly the sort of thing that she wanted. On the other hand…

There was this desperate, conflicting want for her best friend to pester her until Pyrrha was finally forced to share what was going on. Then she'd have someone who would understand what was going on, who could help her figure out what was making her feel so off.

_If I keep trying to hold this in, I'm just going to snap again._ The memory of yelling at Nora flare shamefully in Pyrrha's mind, _I don't want to do that to another one of my friends…_

"…on the other hand, perhaps it would be best to share." Suddenly Ruby had a huge grin across her face… right as Pyrrha's stomach loudly grumbled. "Would you mind if we waited until after breakfast? I really didn't eat much last night. It could even be room service, if that's okay with you?"

"Ooo, I've never had room service before!" In a flash, Ruby was darting towards the phone sitting on the nightstand.

In the end, Pyrrha couldn't resist Ruby.

* * *

Breakfast turned out to be an awkward affair.

Pyrrha turned over her thoughts in silence as she tried to figure out how to best explain the whole thing to Ruby, who waited politely opposite her for an explanation. Nevertheless, she could see Ruby fidgeting anxiously out the corner of her eye, no doubt hoping for her friend to finally speak up.

As Pyrrha raised another spoonful of oatmeal to her lips, she realized that there was no clear way of explaining what was going on - _I suppose I'll have to start simple._ "I lost." It almost sounded stupid to say it so plainly, but that was the first thing that came to mind. The words left a bitter taste in her mouth.

The sudden breach of silence caught Ruby by surprise. "Uh, lost what?" she asked half in sympathy, half in confusion.

It took a moment or two before Pyrrha realized that she needed to be more explicit. "I lost the match yesterday."

"Huh? What do you mean? That fight was awesome! How could you have lost?" Ruby eyed her as though she had been babbling in another language.

"It may have looked that way, but my aura level dipped below seven percent by the end," Pyrrha quietly admitted before making the final connection. "By tournament rules, going below fifteen percent results in a loss. So, I lost."

"But it's not official or anything right?" Pyrrha nodded after a moment of consideration, as Ruby went on. "I mean, it's just an exhibition match, and it turned out to be a really cool one too!" A little heat rose to Pyrrha's cheeks from the compliment.

That outlook made sense to Pyrrha. After all, the sponsors for the event had made it quite clear how pleased they were with her performance. "Yes, well, the people running the event didn't seem to notice anything… _lacking_ in me, either."

"So… what is it?" Ruby asked with a sliver of hesitation. "I mean, you lose outside of tournaments all the time! I've kicked your butt in sparring matches like… once a week… even if you win all the other times…" Ruby added with a flash of embarrassment, earning a small smile from Pyrrha.

"Yes, well, this was different," Pyrrha gently stated. "Sparring or training doesn't count, and I don't think anyone really feels good after a loss, Ruby."

"O-oh." Ruby's mouth opened and closed rapidly like a fish out of water – words were attempting to come out of her, but hesitation stopped them from being verbalized. "So that's what's getting to you…" Ruby eventually settled on.

"It's perfectly natural for people to feel bad when they lose." It sounded to Pyrrha like she was saying that more for her own benefit then Ruby's. "I guess I just don't know how to actually deal with it..."

"Huh?" Ruby's lips quirked downwards into a frown. "What do you mean?"

"I don't lose." A sad little sigh escaped from Pyrrha. "Not until now, anyway."

"W-wait… seriously?" Ruby stared wide-eyed at Pyrrha. "That's amazing!" The expression softened into confusion. "But wait, what did you think you'd feel like? When you'd lose, I mean."

"…I thought I'd be more at peace with it, actually." Emerald eyes flicked up, and were greeted to a surprised Ruby. "Everyone loses, eventually, so why should it be any different for me?"

"Well, yeah! You're kinda the least sore-losery person I know!" A worried frown made itself known across her lips. "Like, people lose all the time, and if no one but you knows about it, I guess I don't know why…"

Pyrrha had no answer for that, instead opting to fidget with her sash. Finally, after what felt like hours of indecision, she spoke up. "I used to… not excel as much as I do now in school."

"_Snrk,_" Ruby snorted in disbelief, "You're, like, a model student… you're super smart, and strong, and pretty, and you always have the right answer… Weiss even gets kinda jealous when we study together."

"Thank you Ruby, that means a lot." Pyrrha could feel the heat rising in her cheeks as she awkwardly rubbed the back of her neck. "I wasn't joking. The first few months at Sanctum were actually really hard for me… as much as it pains me to admit it, I was faltering as a student."

Ruby's disbelief started to fade as she listened. "It wasn't until the Mistral Regional that things started to change." As Pyrrha reminisced, her attention slowly drifted to some other part of the room. "I somehow managed to qualify, and since all my friends were competing, I decided to join as well. I… I still remember how scared I was of embarrassing myself in front of everyone…" Pyrrha guiltily admitted before trailing off.

"And then you kicked all sorts of butt and became the winner…?" Ruby supplied when Pyrrha had grown quiet while trying to figure out how to properly articulate the next part.

"Actually, I nearly lost the first fight outright… at least, until my semblance activated for the first time."

Pyrrha stretched out an upraised palm, and a faint, dark glow encased it as several pieces of silverware floated to it. "It was like some kind of act of destiny, as childish as it sounds." A smile started to stretch across her lips. "It felt like I actually had a chance to be something other than average, so I took it. The match didn't last much longer."

That dopey smile only grew larger. "The cheering of the crowd, the feeling that I had won... I'd never felt anything so wonderful in my entire life. Like I was worth something, and no one could ever deny it."

The smile faded however. "Yet, that feeling, as gratifying as it was, was fleeting… after all, there would be a new winner next year. So I pushed myself harder, trained more, studied more for the next tournament… I had to live up to the previous performance. I had to win."

"That, um, that doesn't sound very healthy," Ruby pointed out anxiously. "Winning is nice and all, but that sounds kinda like an obsession."

"Perhaps. Perhaps not," Pyrrha noted after some hesitation. "At the time, it seemed like a positive obsession, a passion, even. My grades were going up, I was getting better at being a huntress… I thought I was doing the right thing."

A slow, creeping sensation of cold emptiness started to invade her senses. "It's what drove me to keep striving to fill the shoes of the 'Invincible Girl' moniker people kept giving me. All the late night training, perfecting every move, every motion's fluidity was done just for that. At some point, it became less about wanting to win and more about dreading a loss." It was a sensation that the she felt in every official fight - the fear of losing.

"Every time I won, that dread grew bigger and heavier. Each victory just became another loss averted." A painful laugh bubbled up, forcing its way out of her. "That's what I became in the end: a scared girl who couldn't bear to lose." Pyrrha's vision blurred ever so slightly as she wiped away a few tears. "And now I don't even have that."

In that moment, Pyrrha realized why the loss was hitting her so personally. Sure, the feeling of winning would have been nice, and the motivation that the dread of losing gave her was deeply rooted, but that wasn't what kept her fighting.

Winning gave her a sense of worth. It made her feel like she mattered for that brief moment in the spotlight, that her existence had some deeper meaning, some kind of destined fate that was greater than the average individual. Without it, she was just… Pyrrha. The thought of that was perhaps the most unsettling of all, causing her vision to blur and hands to shake.

"Pyrrha?" The gentle, concerned voice of her best friend pulled her out of her own deteriorating mental loop, nearly making her jump out of her seat. "You went quiet…"

"S-sorry." Pyrrha took in a deep breath, trying to calm her quivering hands with little success. "I-It feels like I'm all the way back before I was the Invincible Girl… like I'm worthless again."

"You're not worthless." A gentle hand clasped Pyrrha's own, calming it and causing her to look back up at Ruby. "Pyrrha, I'm not saying that 'cause your my best friend."

"I don't care about the Invincible Girl or any of that stuff. She's not the person I want to hang out with or train with or hug or anything." If Pyrrha's vision wasn't so blurred by tears, she might have noticed a slight blush tinge Ruby's cheeks. "That's not the one I care about."

"The Pyrrha that I care about is the girl who really likes origami, who sometimes guiltily eats deep fried strawberries, who really _really_ likes scary roller coasters." Ruby's expression softened. "That's the Pyrrha that I care about. That's my best friend; the girl who felt selfish because she wanted to be happy and made roses out of paper to stick in someone's hair." For some reason Pyrrha felt more emotional because of what Ruby was saying than what the loss had ever made her feel like, yet in a way that made her feel far better than a win ever did. "She's the one I want to hold really tight and tell that everything will be alright."

Pyrrha was at a loss for words as Ruby went on. "You are worth so much more than some dumb tournament wins, Pyrrha. You always have been; just look around at all your friends. Sure, _maybe_ we only met because you were famous n'stuff, but we stayed because you're 'Pyrrha', not the Invincible Girl… we don't care about that other stuff."

"But-" Pyrrha began, but Ruby cut her off and poked a finger up against her chest.

"You're worth more to us - and especially _me _\- than anyone else."

Warmth rose up in Pyrrha's chest as she sat there, transfixed, her hand still clasped by Ruby's as her vision became fuzzier from hot tears. "Am… am I really worth that much to you?" Pyrrha finally asked in disbelief.

"Duh, of course you are!" Ruby's arms flew around her in a huge hug, the warmth that Pyrrha felt from the embrace only made what she felt inside more intense. It made Pyrrha feel… happy. "I wouldn't have said that if I didn't mean it!"

It didn't take long for Pyrrha's arms to latch onto Ruby as she reciprocated the hug. "I-I don't know what I'd do without you, you know that?" Even though Pyrrha was pressed against Ruby, she could still feel the teen start to smile.

"Hey, that's what best friends are for! Sometimes they just need to give a good kick in the butt every so often!" Pyrrha felt a giggle or two escape her as the tears finally started to dry. "But, um, do you need me to kick your butt anymore…?"

A real smile – not sad but genuinely happy – started to stretch across Pyrrha's lips at the question, as a very comforting warmth spread through her from her friend's concern. "No, no, I think I'm going to be fine Ruby, thanks. You'll be the first I'll ask if I do need my butt kicked."

"Hehe, Ruby Rose, professional butt-kicker!" A silence started to return, albeit an amicable one, as Pyrrha began to feel better in the protective embrace of her best friend.

"Do you still want to do something today…?" Pyrrha asked after a moment. "I'm feeling a lot better now."

"Honestly, I'm fine with just hanging out in the room." Ruby gave a small shrug. "I think I saw enough of the city yesterday."

"Ruby." Pyrrha extracted herself from the hug finally. "We didn't do anything that you wanted to do yesterday, and the only thing we've done today is sit around and watch me be mopey." Pyrrha was feeling rather embarrassed with herself for the outburst, as she awkwardly rubbed the back of her neck. "Sorry…"

"Pssh, it's fine!" Ruby waved it off. "That's what friends are for. Plus, we got room service… I've never had that before!" The smile gracing the teen's lips wavered. "For a while I thought it was my fault that you were feeling so down..."

Pyrrha blinked in surprise before her lips compressed into a slight frown. "Why were you worried about that?"

"Oh, uh, that, right… um…" Suddenly Ruby's eyes avoided Pyrrha. "I may have kinda sorta overheard you talking to Nora last night…"

"Oh. I see." Pyrrha's cheeks flushed red with shame at the memory as she guiltily fidgeted. "I still need to apologize to her."

"It'll be fine. Nora knows you aren't like that, right?" Ruby gazed at Pyrrha hopefully.

"Yeah…" Pyrrha slowly nodded. "I should do that soon." She glanced towards the clock. "Classes end in an hour, so I'll call then." Ruby gave an encouraging smile as Pyrrha allowed a small one herself. "Still, there must be something you want to do today?"

"Hmm…" Ruby tapped on her chin for a moment. "Nope!~" she chirped, sticking out her tongue. "Seriously, I'm fine with just ordering room service and watching some stuff on the TV." Rather suddenly and much to Pyrrha's surprise, Ruby's eyes went wide as she jumped up in excitement. "My favourite cartoon has a marathon today!" Ruby turned to Pyrrha. "Wanna watch that?"

"Well, that sounds grand." A lazy day of ordering room service and watching TV with her best friend _did_ sound amazing to Pyrrha… except for the realization that the sweat from yesterday was still caked on her. "Before that, I'm pretty sure I need to shower." Pyrrha awkwardly rubbed her arms as she glanced towards the bathroom. "I may have been a little preoccupied last night."

"But the marathon starts in, like, five minutes! You don't have time for that!" Ruby's voice drew Pyrrha's focus back to her, startling the tall redhead for a moment. It was as if the most adorable look a puppy could give when it begged for a treat had been sharpened to almost lethal levels. "B-b-but the first episode starts really, really soon!"

"I… uh…" Pyrrha learned in that moment that sometimes, there were foes that were too great to even attempt defeating; Ruby giving a puppy dog look was one of them. "I guess I could… wait for a… commercial break…"

"Yay!" Ruby grabbed Pyrrha by the arm and dragged her over to the couch. "You're gonna love it! The main character is really… really…"

Ruby slowed to a crawl before the couch before turning back to Pyrrha. In place of that begging look was a greatly disturbed one as she pinched her nose close.

"You weren't wrong."

* * *

_This turned out to be a pretty great vacation_.

Ruby had decided on that a while ago. The dim glow of the TV was the only light in the room, darkness having fallen outside many hours ago.

True, there had been bad bits like watching Pyrrha emotionally break down, but they'd worked through it all. Plus, Ruby had enjoyed plenty, such as slow dancing with her crush a few nights ago, or watching the awesome fight, or even what they were currently doing.

At some point during the marathon, Pyrrha had fallen asleep against Ruby and was currently snoozing in her lap. Not only that, but somehow, _definitely_ not by Ruby's doing, one of Pyrrha's hands was clasped against her own, their fingers intertwined. Not to mention the last twelve hours pressed together under a blanket as Ruby got to see Pyrrha turn into a serious fan of her favourite show.

Overall, a fairly good vacation.

That, however, wasn't the only reason Ruby felt so relieved. No, something was becoming rather obvious to Ruby from what Nora had told her.

Ruby had taken "Act natural" to mean precisely what it said - _I just need to act normal._ But given what had happened earlier in the day, Ruby had realized Nora had meant something completely different: _I shouldn't 'act', I should just _be_ myself._

As such, any worry over Pyrrha learning about her crush had evaporated when Ruby had comforted her; she had said things that were awfully close to admitting a crush. The feeling of openness had felt liberating, allowing her to admit how much she wanted to hold Pyrrha and how much Pyrrha meant to her… and somehow, it had worked out. Slowly, the line between her keeping the crush a secret and Pyrrha finding out continued to blur.

The moment of openness had ended, as Ruby still worried that Pyrrha might find out about the crush and that it would hurt their friendship in some irreparable way, so she had decided to bury the possibility of telling Pyrrha even further inside herself… even if there was a chance that her crush might reciprocate…

_It's probably not a good idea to keep burying what I feel_, Ruby glanced down at Pyrrha peacefully snoozing on her lap as their hands remained clasped together.

_But I'm happy._

* * *

Editor/BETA: ASouthernRussian  
Editor/BETA: Gorsouul

* * *

AU: I'M SO SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG TO COME OUT! D:

Life got busy for me, especially since I decided to compete in Reddit's July MonCon – which I did actually win, yay! I actually had a completed draft at the end of July, the problem was that it was crap, so complete rewrite had to happen.

Seriously, so many rewrites with this chapter occurred, it'd make your head spin.

Did it turn out okay in the end? I really, really hope it did…

I actually got to all the reviews and gave them all responses for once, so yay! :D

I really don't have much to say, today. No omake this time, seeing as Super Saiyan Cyndaquil is still trapped in Love Live idol hell. Some day he might escape, some day.

I'm hoping to have the next chapter for _Acceptance_ out far soon, like next month. That's the goal! I'm guessing that if you've read this far, you're probably a fan of the Pyrrha/Ruby ship, if that's the case, you should check out my entry to the MonCon competition, '_Milk &amp; Cereal'_, it's pretty cute! (and also my form of apology for being so late with this chapter D: )

Thank you so, so very much for your continued patience! Hopefully, this chapter was worth the wait, or it's time to go back to drawing board for me…

Thank you for reading, I hope everyone has a wonderful day! :D


	25. Chapter 25: Deja Vu

**Chapter Twenty Five: Deja Vu**

* * *

Pyrrha was happy.

She had trouble understanding why she felt that way, but the world around her seemed to glow with a pleasant energy that wasn't there before. Everything just seemed… rosier.

It felt like a weird realization to have, as her eyes wandered over the myriad of stars in the clear sky, yet it made her stop and think of the obvious implication. _Was I unhappy before?_ The thought rattled around in her brain.

For most of her first year, she had spent a lot of her time attempting to win Jaune over, to get him to realize her feelings… and then he started dating Velvet. That had hurt Pyrrha more than she was willing to admit, even now. Then there'd been the Vytal festival, and the whole… _debacle_ involving her partner after that.

_Not to mention the exhibition match…_ the thought of which made her brow furrow as she bit her lip in annoyance. It was… odd to still think about it_. I might have known what was going on, but I never told someone before. Never_. In some ways, vocalizing her problem had made it easier to understand. Confiding in Ruby had really, truly helped.

_Whenever I'm with Ruby, everything just seems… better._ Little things that normally just passed her by without a second glance suddenly became more interesting the longer she was with Ruby, case in point was the stargazing that she was doing. All things considered, the time they spent apart during Pyrrha's waking hours was increasingly becoming sparse. Whether it be training, studying, or going to the city, they seemed to overwhelmingly do it together. It felt natural at that point, yet also new and exciting.

_Is it because what she said to me?_ _About how I matter to her?_ Just remembering those words filled her up with glee - Pyrrha wouldn't forget them any time soon

_I matter to her._

That thought made Pyrrha feel happy - a sharp contrast to how she had felt not all that long ago.

"There you are!" _Speaking of which…_

"Hello Ruby." Pyrrha twisted around and waved at her friend, who was approaching her fast.

"I've been looking, like, everywhere for you!" Ruby threw her hands up in exasperation. "Jaune said you were still where you guys train, which is something you always do, but then you didn't get back and you weren't in the locker room either, so I was really confused-"

"I'm sorry!" Pyrrha's hands rose in a placating fashion, feeling genuinely bad about it. "I just got distracted with, well…" Her arm swept towards the twinkling lights in the sky. "Do you still need help with your homework?"

"Oh, uh, I kinda finished that already…" Ruby awkwardly rubbed the back of her neck. "I was actually trying to return this." Her voice had lowered to an embarrassed whisper as she held out Pyrrha's notes for their Dust Theory class.

"You didn't have to come all the way out here for that. It would have been fine to return it in the morning." Pyrrha shook her head with a growing smile.

"Yeah, but what if you needed them and we have a pop quiz tomorrow and you failed because you couldn't study because I had your notes?!" Ruby retorted without missing a beat, prompting a giggle from Pyrrha.

"I would survive, somehow… I think." Pyrrha set the notebook down before arching backwards in a stretch. "Do you know any constellations?" Pyrrha asked after a moment.

"Uh… I know the Big Dipper?" Ruby squinted upwards. "Which is over there… somewhere, I think?" Ruby vaguely pointed in a direction.

"Close, that's the Little Dipper." Pyrrha pointed in a slightly different direction. "That's the Big Dipper."

Ruby's arm adjusted more towards where Pyrrha was pointing. "That one?"

"No, that's…" Pyrrha squinted in the direction Ruby was indicating. "I think it's called Cameloparadalis?"

"Cameloparadile… Camel paradise?" Ruby tried to repeat the word, eliciting a poorly concealed snort from Pyrrha. "I don't see any camels…"

"I believe it means 'giraffe.'"

"I'm pretty sure that's not a giraffe, Pyrrha."

"I always thought it looked more like a goat." She shrugged. "Well, more like a goat than the _actual_ goat constellation."

"Ooo, where's that?" Ruby's eyes followed Pyrrha's arm as it drifted lazily downwards before stopping. "Um… the triangle thing?"

"That's the horned sea goat," Pyrrha stated in poshest accent she could muster, much to the amusement of Ruby.

"But it's a triangle…?"

The serious façade cracked as Pyrrha shook her head. "I told you it doesn't look like a goat."

"Wow, yeah, you're right." Ruby giggled before plopping down next to her. "So which one was the Big Dipper again?"

"That one, right above the Little Dipper."

"There?" Pyrrha shook her head. "How about there?"

"Hold still." Pyrrha scooted over behind Ruby, her head moving right above her friend's shoulder before she gently moved Ruby's arm in the correct direction. "Do you see it now?"

"I-I think so." Ruby's voice wavered; from uncertainty or something else altogether, Pyrrha wasn't quite sure.

Slowly, Pyrrha changed where Ruby was pointing to a different part of the sky. "And that's Polaris, the bright star that the Big Dipper points to." Ruby's impressed 'Ooo' emboldened Pyrrha to keep going, directing her friend's outstretched arm again as the slight evening wind picked up. "Over there is the Seven Siste-"

One moment Ruby was pressed against her, the next moment she dived a good five feet away and snatched Pyrrha's notes from being taken away by the wind. Once she had snatched up all the loose pages, Ruby let out a whoop of triumph. Pyrrha's first thought, however, wasn't that her notes were safe, but rather that she wished Ruby hadn't moved.

There was something oddly comforting, Pyrrha had found, from being around Ruby. Whenever Ruby was close to her, she felt as though nothing in the world could trouble her – so much so that she already found herself missing Ruby's warmth.

"Hey Pyrrha?" As her attention returned to Ruby, Pyrrha noticed that her voice sounded cautious, uncertain.

"Yes?"

"Are you, uh, free this Saturday afternoon?"

Pyrrha tapped her chin in thought. "I believe so."

"Great! Um, so we're celebrating my birthday…" Ruby nervously fidgeted. "So, uh, you can come, right?"

"Of course!" A wide smile stretched across Pyrrha's lips. "That sounds lovely!" Internally, however, she was in distress. _How did I forget _that_!?_ Certainly she had a lot on her mind, but that was no excuse for this. _I should still make time to get something for my best friend!_

"Yay!" Ruby's nervousness dissipated into relief. "I was really worried that you couldn't go because I kept forgetting to ask and stuff, um, yeah…" A buzzing noise from somewhere nearby interrupted Ruby's train of thought. As she picked up the scroll responsible for the sound, her silver eyes widened in horror. "Crap! I should probably get back to party planning before Weiss tries to order more doilies!" Ruby was halfway to the door before shouting back "Seeya tomorrow, Pyrrha!"

"Goodnight, Ruby!" Pyrrha waved as a trail of rose petals fluttered slowly to the ground. _I can't wait for Saturday! _As gleaming emerald eyes returned to star gazing, a quandary presented itself.

_What should I get Ruby for her birthday?_

The answer shouldn't be so hard; after all, Pyrrha spent a lot of time with Ruby, so she knew what her friend liked and didn't like… yet that wasn't illuminating in the least.

_I could get her a gift card to that bakery she really likes_. To Pyrrha that seemed like a completely reasonable, if boring, solution – _I know Ruby would use it and would quite enjoy it… yet that doesn't feel right. _A gift card felt too _impersonal_ for the relationship that the two shared. It was the kind of gift Pyrrha would give a relative that she only saw twice a year… not a best friend. Not Ruby.

The next thought was that of something for Ruby's beloved Crescent Rose. _She's always tinkering with it, and it'd be a very functional gift._ However, this idea didn't sit well with her; _if I had an upgrade for her weapon, I'd give it to her regardless if it was her birthday or not. Besides, I have no idea what she'd need._

_I could bake something for her? She does really like cookies…_ That felt more appealing than any of the previous options, since it was neither as impersonal as a gift card nor was it something that Pyrrha felt unqualified to do. Yet that presented its own fault – _I'm pretty sure anyone who knows Ruby would get her that, it's still too impersonal…_

Pyrrha's fingers drummed on the roof. _I want to give her something that shows I care, something more meaningful than just cookies or a gift card… something that's personal to us._

_I have an idea._

* * *

As Ruby looked at the circle that was forming around her, she couldn't help but feel anxious.

Up until this point, Ruby's seventeenth birthday party had been going well; there were cookies and cake, and even a cookie-cake as well as a few presents. Still, everything wasn't quite right; while Ruby knew it was rude to expect a gift, she still felt disappointed that Pyrrha hadn't given her one yet.

Or rather, she felt disappointed that Pyrrha still hadn't given her the gift that she was hiding– if the box she was keeping surreptitiously behind her was anything to go by. _Maybe I've just been too busy for her to give it? _This was a reasonable theory, given that she _was_ the center of attention today.

That being said, Ruby was just happy her best friend had showed up and was sitting next to her. _I guess I'm just being greedy…_

"Alright, Ruby, since it's your birthday, I think you should go first!"

Everyone nodded in agreement, much to Ruby's relief. "Yay!" Ruby eyed her gathered friends – her own team, her best friend's team, and even an upperclassmen - with something of a predatory glint before she settled on Yang.

"Ohoho, bring it on sis!" Yang rubbed her hands together as lilac eyes locked onto silver ones. "But I'm going to say… the easier one."

"Aww." Ruby slumped over. _I had some really good ideas for her too! _"Um, okay…" She scratched her head thoughtfully for a moment, not having considered Yang to wuss out on the first round. "Have you… uh, did you eat all my strawberries?"

Yang's confident posture faltered and betrayed guiltiness in an instant, as she averted her gaze from Ruby's and shied away from the accusatory finger pointing at her. "Not all of them…" Before Ruby could vocalize her frustration, Yang spun around towards Blake. "It's your turn, Blakey!"

"Oh. Right." Blake shifted slightly in her seat. "You're just going to keep picking me until I say it, aren't you?" The blonde mane swished as Yang nodded, drawing out a resigned sigh from Blake. "I suppose… dare?"

"I… didn't think you'd actually do it. Huh." Yang blinked in surprise before a gleeful smile spread across the blonde's lips. "I'll come up with something, don't you worry!"

Pyrrha leaned over to Ruby. "Is Blake going to be alright? Yang's looking a bit… excited." Even Ruby – who was across the room – could tell Blake was already regretting her choice as Yang's smile widened.

Ruby shrugged helplessly at her friend. "Maybe? This is going to either be really funny or really bad…"

"Okay, I got a good one! I dare you to…" Yang reached over to Weiss' lap, and gently lifted Zwei off her – much to her protests - before holding out the corgi to Blake. "…keep Zwei in your lap until he decides to leave!"

"How is that a dare?!" Nora blurted out. Ruby understood her confusion, but, she knew very well why this dare was so dastardly.

"Why are we friends?" Blake grumbled as she went to grab him – only for Zwei to lick her hand. She let out the shrillest screech that Ruby had ever heard before jolting back nearly a foot.

"…so are you gonna chicken out…?" Yang teased her partner. "I mean, you could totally say no, but then no cake for you!~"

"I hate you." Blake lamely let Yang drop the corgi in her lap, her breathing becoming uneven for a few seconds before glaring at her partner. "Yang, truth or da-"

"Nu-uh, that's against the rules!" Yang had a huge, shit-eating grin. "You can't choose the person who just choose you!~"

"Fine." Ruby could see her teammate literally shaking with anger – whoever she picked was probably in for a rough time. _Don't pick me, don't pick me, don't pick me!_ "I choose… Weiss."

"There is no way I'm picking dare… you _do_ know that, right?" Blake shrugged. "Truth."

"…have you ever broken the law?" After some hesitation, Weiss answered with the faintest of voices.

"Yes."

Ruby spat out her drink in a spray of red. "_What?!_"

For perhaps the first time since they met, Weiss seemed to not want to be the center of attention. "I pic-"

"So what did you do?" Blake asked the question that everyone had on their minds. "I mean, it must have been something big…"

"I don't have to answer that," Weiss retorted defensively. "It's not your turn anymore. "

"Yes, but you do know that the moment someone can pick you again, it's going to happen until you say what you did," Ren pointed out, and everyone murmured in agreement.

Weiss, clearly seeing she had no friends in this issue, sighed in defeat. "I-I stole a pack of gum when I was nine."

"Oh."

"That's not too bad"

"That's it?!"

"Winter was impressed," Weiss quietly added before she cleared her throat loudly as her embarrassment lit up her face, before pointing at a very distracted faunus. "Velvet, truth or dare?"

"Huh?" Velvet looked around with a start, as she and Jaune had been busy cuddling. "Er, truth?"

"Who here has a weapon you use the least?" As lame as the question seemed, it got Ruby's attention immediately; the way Velvet fought meant that she used the style of other huntresses and huntsmen, including their weapons – something that Ruby, if she was being completely honest, was green with envy about.

Yet… no answer came from Velvet – in fact, her ears drooped as she started to stare a hole into the ground. "Well…?" Weiss impatiently prompted. "Whose is it?"

"It's…" Velvet's voice became quieter than a whisper. Ruby couldn't hear it no matter how much she strained. Blake must have heard her, however, since she looked like she was on the verge of laughing. _Wait… what?_

"I… I shouldn't say-"

"She said it was Jaune's," Blake interjected, prompting a bout of laughter from everyone as Velvet buried her reddened face in her hands.

"Wait, why is it me?" Jaune sounded genuinely hurt, like a puppy who ran into a glass door and didn't know what happened. "I thought you used Crocea Mors a lot… you take lots and lots of photos of-"

"I, that's… it's not like that!" Velvet gave Blake an uncharacteristically nasty look before whispering in Jaune's ear. As she continued, Jaune's cheeks burned cherry red, though he didn't seem embarrassed. On the contrary, his lips turned in a shy smile, and he straightened himself up and puffed out his chest a bit, not unlike a rooster.

After nearly a minute of whispering, Velvet pulled away from Jaune, eyes narrowed at Blake. "Truth or dare."

"Truth."

"Have you ever kissed a guy?"

Blake opened and closed her mouth wordlessly, looking like she didn't quite comprehend what was being asked. "Come again…?"

"Have. You. Ever. Kissed. Someone." Velvet's voice had an overly sweet tone in it, as if she was savouring the confusion. "Just a simple yes or no!~"

Blake's bow drooped, as she looked at the ground. "…yes."

"Aww, that's too ba- Wait what?! Who is it?" Yang asked, leaning in front of her partner, curiosity and excitement dripping from her voice. "I gotta know!"

"It's not your turn, Yang," Blake retorted with a hint of smugness. "And even if it was, who says I'm going to pick truth?" Yang's lips compressed into a frown momentarily before reverting.

"Sooo who you gonna choose, Blakey? Me?" There was a clear tone of challenge in Yang's voice as Blake shook her head. "No?" Yang seemed genuinely hurt by it, leaning back as if she was staggering from being hit. "Then who?"

A sickly, evil looking expression crossed Blake's face, before her amber eyes turned towards one of the few people who hadn't had a turn yet, the only one brimming with energy. "Nora."

"FINALLY!" Nora jumped off the ground with a fist pump. _That means she gets to go next, oh no. _If the collective sigh was anything to go by, everyone seemed to share this sentiment.

"Truth o-"

"DARE! I PICK DARE!"

"I was hoping for that." Ever so slowly, Blake turned back to her confused partner. "I dare you to pluck some of Yang's hair."

"Oh shit-" Furniture screeched as Nora charged at Yang as the others dove out of the way.

"Hey, don't break the room, we live here!" Weiss called out from across the room, who had picked up Zwei and was currently cradling him in her arms, as the rest of the party-goers made room for the two brawlers.

It was an oddly entertaining fight to watch, as the two tumbled around the dorm room, Nora valiantly trying to complete the dare.

"Ruby?" Pyrrha's quiet voice had just a hint of a waver to it, pulled Ruby's attention away from the ongoing tussle.

"Y-Yes?"

"Happy birthday, Ruby." Pyrrha held out a wrapped up box – a slender rectangular box – complete with a red bow on top.

Ruby could barely suppress letting out a high-pitched _squee_ as she carefully accepted the box. Grabbing a taped fold, Ruby ripped off the wrapping, revealing… a rather ordinary box, causing her to glance up at Pyrrha in puzzlement.

Opening the box, which was overflowing with packaging material, Ruby reached into it, before her fingers touched something metallic and smooth. Gingerly pulling it out, Ruby found herself holding a rose.

It wasn't just any rose – it took her only a few seconds to realize it was the same pattern as the one that she had taught Pyrrha how to make. Unlike that one, this one was not made out of paper but of metal, with a vibrant red forming the petals, each one delicately flared out. A deep, deep viridian made up the stem, with three intricately detailed leaves adorning its length. It was, in a word, beautiful.

_Pyrrha made this for me?_ Ruby stared, eyes wide, up at her before looking back at the rose. It wasn't something like a gift card, or even cookies, but completely handmade. Not only that, but it held special meaning for them – it was the first origami design that Ruby taught her best friend how to make, a moment in time that just the two of them shared. The piece of metal that Ruby was holding showed just how much Pyrrha cherished that memory.

"I thought that this would last longer than the paper one I made you, and you said the metal origami was really cool, too, so…" Pyrrha spoke up as Ruby admired the metal creation. "Is… is it okay?"

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Ruby pulled Pyrrha into a tight hug – careful to keep the rose from hitting anything. "I'll make su-"

"DARE COMPLETE!"

Nora triumphantly held up a few strands of blond hair, as Yang grumpily crossed her arms, muttering about how she was going to get payback.

"Oh no." Ren's quiet voice seemed louder to Ruby than Nora's in the momentary lull, as a very important realization dawned on Ruby. A truth that Nora recognized, as her gaze turned away from Ren and onto the birthday girl, herself: _Nora knows about my crush!_

Rather suddenly, the room felt stifling and uncomfortable under the watchful turquoise eyes. _If she picks me, I can't do truth, I can't! I'll just pick dare_. Except that meant having to do a Nora-level dare, a fate worse than even picking dare from Yang. _Please don't pick me, anyone but me!_

As if the orange-haired teen had heard Ruby's pleads, her focus slowly, ever so slowly shifted away from her. It didn't go very far.

"Pyrrha, truth or DARE?!"

"Oh!" Pyrrha pointed to herself, prompting Nora to nod. "I'll pick… dare."

Ruby visibly paled as Nora glanced back at her with an extremely satisfied look, the kind that made one worry for their own safety. "I dare you to… boop Ruby!"

"I'm sorry?"

Nora rolled her eyes as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Y'know, an eskimo kiss?"

It was as if the gears turning in Ruby's head suddenly stopped, having hit a snag and making the dare repeat itself faster than she could process. "Wh-what?!" There was no stopping the fact that the rising heat in her cheeks was lighting her up brighter than a tomato as Pyrrha scooched in front of her. "Y-You don't have to do that P-Pyrrha!"

The encroaching redhead hesitantly stopped a few inches away from her, as Ruby felt a mixture of relief and disappointment. "Should I stop?" Ruby could have sworn she had heard disappointment in Pyrrha's voice, as if she really _really_ wanted to do it.

"I… uh… um…" Ruby looked around for help, for someone to bail her out of this situation, only to find that everyone was currently staring at them, waiting. "I-I-I guess it's oka-eep!"

The first thing that Ruby noticed was her vision darkening as Pyrrha closed the gap between them. Time slowed, as she became aware of her friend's breathing, as the scent that Ruby forever associated with her crush suddenly filled her nostrils, and something, no doubt Pyrrha's nose, pressed against her own, before tilting, ever so slightly.

_Holy crap, Pyrrha is kissing me! _

Sure, it may not have been a kiss on the lips… or even involving any lips at all, but kiss was still technically part of the name, but it was her _crush_ currently rubbing her nose against her _own_.

As suddenly as the sensation began, it ended, as Pyrrha pulled away. It was only then, that she noticed the snickering her sister wasn't even trying to hide, or the fact that _everyone_ in the room just saw the nuzzle… or the giant dopey smile she had.

An embarrassed smile tugged at Pyrrha's lips. "Boop." In an instant, the hood was over her head, as Ruby tried to turtle in the fabric away from Yang's teasing, Ruby was trying her best to calm her pounding heart. "Um, Ruby, are you okay…?" Pyrrha asked with a hint of trepidation. "I didn't mean to- I'm sorry!"

"I-It's fine, I just wasn't ready …we need to get Nora back." The red hood slid back to reveal the relieved face of Pyrrha, as Ruby stared daggers at Nora… who merely winked back with the smuggest look Ruby had ever seen.

Despite the fact that Ruby's heart had just nearly leapt up her throat, or the teasing that she knew she was going to endure from her sister… Pyrrha had kissed her.

_Best. Birthday. Ever!_

* * *

_Today was a good day._

Pyrrha let out a content sigh as the warm water of the shower enveloped her.

While the game of Truth or Dare had only gone on for a few more rounds after her dare, the party lasted several hours more. Even so, Pyrrha only reluctantly left. She might not have been the birthday girl, but from the way it left her with a cheery mood, she might as well have been.

_I suppose I just like seeing Ruby being happy_. That wasn't to say that Pyrrha didn't enjoy the rest of the party, but it all just seemed small compared to seeing Ruby's joy. There was no lack of that today; from the massive cookie-cake that Yang had made to, the adorable embarrassed expression she made when everyone sung her happy birthday, or when Velvet had let her see all the different weapons she had stored in the box. _Heck, even Nora's dare made her happy!_ However, there was one moment that Pyrrha was particularly delighted by and perhaps a bit proud of.

Ever since Ruby had told her about the party, Pyrrha had been hard at work making a gift, a gift that would hold some deeper meaning than just a gift card. _It had to be perfect… perhaps that's why I was apprehensive?_ That was natural, especially after all the time and effort she'd put into making the gift - from the half a dozen failed attempts to agonizing over wrapping it… Perhaps that had been why Pyrrha had waited so long to give it; the moment had to be just right.

Yet, in the end, the effort had been well worth it. _Ruby loved it!_ A mixture of pride and that special kind of happiness that came from making others happy swelled up in her, which in turn made all sorts of nice warm feelings suffuse throughout her. _She gave me big hug, and couldn't stop telling me how much she liked it, and… and…_

Unconsciously, Pyrrha shook her head as if to fight off the huge smile spreading across her lips, wet hair slapping against her back loudly, to no avail. It was then that a thought flitted to the forefront of her brain.

_It's just like how it used to be with Jaune…_

Emerald eyes widened as everything clicked; the times that she had held on to Ruby for maybe a touch longer than she should have, how she had held her so close during the dance or even how she was drawn to the teen. How everything seemed brighter around Ruby, or why she missed her best friend's touch…

Moreover, she finally understood why she found Ruby's happiness so important, why that happiness in turn made her happy. It was exactly like how it'd been with Jaune, _which means… which means…_

Pyrrha's forehead limply slumped against the shower wall.

"Fuck."

* * *

Editor/BETA: ASouthernRussian  
Editor/BETA: Gorsouul

* * *

AU: Pyrrha realized what ship the story is about :D

The punchline is the chapter title. Alt. name would have been "Boop"

It's taken us a good... twenty months, almost, to reach this point, but we are finally, FINALLY there! Mutual attraction exists AND I GOT PYRRHA TO SAY FUCK (in an appropriate and in-character manner)! Breaking all sorts of barriers today, eh? :P

I should point out that the way I think of it, Ruby's birthday is early in the school year, so sometime in her first semester she turned sixteen, hence why she is turning seventeen now seeing as we are into year two at Beacon.

First off, I have to say thanks to Jo3mm for he is the one who came up with the booping of the snoots. Really cute stuff right there! Also Pyrrha saying boop afterwards is kinda amazing, especially if you realize what it means after listening to the song.

I'm sorry for taking AGES to come out with a chapter! D: I really, truly am I! I'm going to try and get back into a chapter a month for at least the duration of volume 4… I'm going to try! :D Because if I don't start speeding it up, at the current pace of a chapter every two months, this won't finish until roughly volume 10! Also sorry for not responding to reviews… real life got stupidly busy. Will do this time, I promise! …I'm actually really excited to see what people think of this chapter… _really_ excited!

…I was also supposed to have this posted about three hours ago, whoops!

…usually I have more to ramble about… AH, right, Super Saiyan Cyndaquil is emerging from idol hell (or heaven, as he calls it) and has another omake for us!

OH, RIGHT, THIS CHAPTER WILL MAKE _ACCEPTANCE_ BE MY FIRST STORY OVER ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND WORDS! :D

Righto, my tentative, TENTATIVE plan is to get chapter 26 out in four weeks… I have a couple hundred words written, so we'll see how it goes.

Thank you for reading this mess and bearing with me, I hope everyone has a wonderful day! :D

* * *

**Omake - Guest author: Super Saiyan Cyndaquil:**

"Jaune, where's your armor?" That was the very first thing Velvet noticed as she sat across from her boyfriend at the table for breakfast.

"Hmm." Jaune made a small grunt, spoonful of cereal in his mouth. He held up a finger, while he chewed. "I'm having it polished. It was getting pretty worn down." Immediately after answering, he dipped his spoon back into the bowl and took another mouthful of the unhealthy cereal.

"Okay… next question, have you always had that on your hoodie?"

"Hmm?" He quirked an eyebrow, looking almost confused by her question for a minute. He glanced down at his hoodie and then back up at her. "You mean Pumpkin Pete?" He asked, pointing at the rabbit face that took up the whole upper portion of his sweatshirt.

"_That's _Pumpkin Pete?" Velvet blinked several times incredulously, glancing between the design and the box of cereal Jaune had placed next to his bowl. There was no rabbit pictured on the box of his favorite cereal, instead just a picture of his partner.

"Yeah." Jaune shrugged and gave a short nod. "What, you mean you didn't know? I thought you always knew this was on my hoodie." His tone only carried with it a small amount of surprise. With another shrug he seemed to dismiss the thought entirely, however. Then he went right back to chowing down.

Only, Velvet wasn't quite finished with the conversation just yet. "Jaune… I have to ask," She fidget awkwardly in her chair, hands clenching together and eyes unconsciously darting back to the rabbit that almost seemed to be looking tauntingly back up at her. "...when you asked me out, it wasn't, by any chance, because I have rabbit ears just like Pumpkin Pete?"

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

After that, Velvet didn't talk to him for the rest of the week. The sad part was, Jaune really had no idea what it was he had done.


	26. Chapter 26: Normalcy

**Chapter Twenty Six: Normalcy**

* * *

_I like Ruby more than just as a friend._

Pyrrha had imagined that such a revelation would break the status quo, that everything would change because of it. And yet…

The birds chirped and tweeted without a care during her early morning jog. Nora tried her best to get an inhuman amount of pancakes into her stomach at breakfast. Jaune was nearly late for their first class, evidently trying to spend every last possible second with Velvet. Class began normally – albeit, at the caffeine-fueled pace that only in Doctor Oobleck's class could be considered normal.

It was a day just like the previous day, or the day before that, or the week before that, or the month before that. Normal. Comfortable. Pyrrha tried to keep up with the brisk pace of the lecture, transcribing notes as fast as she could. Class ended, and the next one began – full contact sparring overseen by Professor Goodwitch. Blake and Ren ended up in a long match, which finished in a draw as time ran out. Classes ended for the day, and Pyrrha spent a few hours studying in the library with Ruby before dinner. Then she tutored Jaune for an hour before taking a relaxing shower and going to bed.

The next day was the same: wake-up, breakfast, class, lunch, class, study, dinner, bed. And the next day. And the next. So forth and so on. Perfectly normal.

Except for one small, tiny little thing.

_I have a crush on Ruby Rose._

That singular thought changed everything.

Little things started to make sense: that feeling of warmth in her chest whenever she made Ruby smile, the way she always hung onto every word that Ruby said, how she fretted over every little thing that troubled her friend, why she craved Ruby's attention.

In no way, shape or form could Pyrrha deny that she had feelings for her best friend. She had accepted that as simply a fact of the matter. There was no question in it; it felt just like how it did with Jaune. Yet it was precisely _that_ reason that utterly terrified her.

With Jaune, those feelings were the basis of their very dynamic from the moment she laid eyes on him. They shaped how their friendship came to be, and how she saw him from the beginning. The blonde boy had started out as her crush before becoming her partner, her leader… and now her friend.

But with Ruby, it was an entirely different beast; _she's my friend, my best friend! She's not someone I just met! _These feelings were not the beginning of their dynamic, but now that they started creeping in, they risked changing it entirely, perverting it to something else altogether. That was Pyrrha's biggest fear. _I don't know what I'll do if Ruby becomes another Jaune..._

The vivid memory of the way her feelings for Jaune had mutated into jealousy and resentment pushed Pyrrha into wanting to smother any fledgling crush she had for Ruby. _If I let it blossom into anything, this won't end well._

When she had embraced them with Jaune, they had, in the end, only hurt her. She saw Jaune try and fail to court Weiss, but even as he failed, he never once noticed Pyrrha, even as she tried so hard to express her feelings. Then, when he did give up on her, Jaune asked out Velvet instead! He never _noticed_ how she felt – and for a time she had drifted from her friend.

The difference was, of course, that with Ruby, she had so much _more_ to 'd never be able to go on a trip with her again… or spend a day running around a festival… and above all else, losing Ruby would mean losing her best friend.

_I don't want to do this to Ruby._

It was never a question in her mind about what to do. The notion that the friendship she so treasured with Ruby could be brought crashing down because of some dumb, stupid infatuation ended any part of her that even contemplated acting on said feelings.

_I don't even think that Ruby likes girls… or even boys, for that matter._ Pyrrha couldn't recall a single time when they'd even talked about romance – either because Ruby didn't want to bring up bad memories or she just didn't think about love and relationships, if Pyrrha had to guess. _Even if I do have feelings for her, it's not like she'd ever feel the same way about me. We're best friends and nothing… nothing more._

Pyrrha knew she was just making up excuses, but that was all she _could_ do. She had to maintain the air of normalcy, even as her awareness of how she truly felt about her best friend grew. She had to keep their dynamic the same.

_As long as I don't do what I did with Jaune, everything will be fine. I just need to be normal and everything will be fine._ Pyrrha repeated this mantra to herself to reinforce it.

_Everything will be fine as long as nothing changes._

* * *

Pyrrha let out a low sigh as she kept trying to read the dry textbook.

Certainly, nothing was changing with Doctor Oobleck's assignments – as informative as they were – were so unrelentingly brutal in their mind-numbing minute detail that Pyrrha felt she was going to fall asleep at any moment.

It was because of this that she usually appreciated doing her work with Ruby, since she always made it so much more interesting. There was a kind of energetic quality about her that made even dull history readings like the one before her bearable, heck, even fun – which was saying something, given the subject matter.

Unfortunately, today was quite the opposite. A combination of a bad night's sleep and the tedium of the reading had resulted in Ruby dozing off, using her textbook as a pillow. Pyrrha didn't have the heart to wake her; Ruby had only stayed awake during class purely off a caffeine-fueled desire to be a good team leader – which, as Weiss had pointed out numerous times, didn't include falling asleep in class.

Another weary sigh escaped Pyrrha's lips as she started reading the next chapter. Being the library, there was always an air of quietness – students talked to others in whispers since the only other socially acceptable noise seemed to be that of the occasional page being turned. It was in this silence that Pyrrha's eyes started to wander for lack of better stimulation.

The tight control that she kept on herself loosened as she glanced occasionally over at her friend – _it's not like Ruby is going to notice…_

And so, her eyes wandered.

What she was doing felt a bit indulgent, but it felt liberating to not have to act _normal_ with Ruby for a little while. To not have to be painfully aware of how she moved, or where she looked. To just… be.

And so, her thoughts wandered.

_Her hair looks soft._ Pyrrha felt a muted urge to reach out and touch the red-streaked hair. Ruby had let it grow out far longer than what it'd been when they first met, she idly realized, as it reached all the way down to her shoulders. It looked… more mature. That wasn't the only change; while she wasn't tall by any measure, Ruby had definitely grown taller. In fact, every part of her had matured – she was now the same age as everyone else had been when they had their initiation at Beacon, and it showed.

Pyrrha noticed certain… _things_.

Such as how her best friend had clearly not missed out on whatever Xiao Long genes that Yang seemed replete with. Ruby certainly did not look like she belonged at Signal now. Pyrrha couldn't help but notice her new figure every time they hugged. Despite the ever-so-slightly diminished difference in height, Ruby's head was still at the unfortunate – some might say fortunate – height of Pyrrha's chest.

These physical changes tormented Pyrrha; _it's hard to ignore how I feel when Ruby's face is pressed up against my chest… but it also feels exciting…_

Heat rose to Pyrrha's cheeks as her imagination wandered.

Her thoughts lingered on innocent longings; hand-holding, hugs or being able to spend all of her time with Ruby. If only she could let herself get caught staring and have it not cause her any anxiety. If only any blush she had would be just fine and _normal_.

She continued to let her wistful daydreaming carry her thoughts and her gaze… until Ruby started to stir.

It was only then that Pyrrha realized her hand had wandered towards Ruby, halfway outreached towards her hair. Her arm jerked back as she guiltily quashed her wandering thoughts and went back to _normal_.

"Bleh…" Ruby shook her head, trying to shake off the last vestiges of sleep as her eyes wearily cracked open. "Did I fall asleep?"

"Perhaps," Pyrrha answered with a convincing smile, as Ruby let out a long, pained groan. "You looked like you needed it, however."

"Yeah, well…" Silver eyes squinted at the nearest wall clock before widening in horror. "Shoot! If I don't get started on Profes – I mean Doctor Oobleck's reading, I'll be a zombie tomorrow too!" Ruby grumbled as she opened her textbook and started to flip through it.

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…Pyrrha."

"Yes, Ruby?"

"Why is it called Fort Castle? Why not… Fort Fort?"

Just like that, the norm returned; the comfortable, easy conversation that Ruby gave and Pyrrha loved.

_Everything will be fine._

* * *

"…and then I smashed it with a hammer, and it exploded into a bazillion chocolate bars!"

Pyrrha nibbled on her salad as Nora recounted her dream for what must have been the thirtieth time this week. Not that Yang or Ruby seemed to care since they looked completely enthralled in the tale.

Simply put, things were normal.

Consequently, Weiss was discussing something or another with Blake – most likely something to do with one of their recent assignments. Ren was sipping tea and making the occasional correction to Nora's tale. Jaune was off with Velvet, opting to eat outside – as they tended to do when the weather permitted it – and away from prying eyes.

_I wonder what they are up to…_

It didn't take much guesswork to figure that out; _the things that couples normally do, like holding hands, talking about mushy things, cuddling, kissing… it must feel nice..._

Pyrrha blinked in sudden recognition of the passing thought.

_I kissed Ruby, didn't I?_

While it wasn't a kiss on the lips, or even with the lips, but _kiss_ is part of an eskimo kiss… Much like before, Pyrrha's imagination started to wander into the realm of fantas-

"So Rubes, how'd you do so well on that pop quiz? Even Weiss had trouble." Yang jabbed a thumb over to the white-haired teen, eliciting a rather undignified noise of objection.

An unintelligible garble of something spewed from Ruby's mouth, as well as some crumbs, as she swallowed the three cookies that she had just crammed in. "Uh, Pyrrha helped me!"

A blonde eyebrow cocked up. "You two sure spend a lot of time together." A rather playful smile stretched the corners of her mouth. "So, when am I invited to the wedding?"

Ruby sputtered and threw a fork at her sister. "Yaaaang!"

"I was just teasing ya! But seriously, you two are pretty inseparable, y'know." Yang shrugged, "Right, Pyrrha?"

The _normal_ response would have been to simply say 'yes', however…

Pyrrha's imagination was still wandering, as the image of Ruby drifted in with a lovely white dress, smiling up at her, silver eyes aglow with joy as the words 'you may kiss the bride' echoed through her head. Ruby's eyes were fluttering shut as Pyrrha leaned down to meet her halfway…

Understandably, the normal response was not the one that came out.

"…"

Pyrrha could feel her face turning a bright shade of red as she stared at her salad, while several of her friends turned to look and see what was wrong.

"Pyrrha…?"

"Y-yes, she's my best friend." Her voice felt small, akin to a kid saying that they didn't just steal from the cookie jar even though their arm is still stuck in it. "Who I-I spend a lot of time with. As a friend."

"As opposed to…?" Blake quietly inquired, her conversation with Weiss having ended in favour of watching how far Pyrrha could stick her foot in her mouth.

"Nothing!" Pyrrha's voice went a few octaves higher than she'd have liked, coming out in a shrill tone before she clamped a hand down on her mouth in horror. She could feel the panic rising, her heart starting to race as all eyes were definitely. She stared down at her now very unappetizing salad.

_Just don't say a thing and it will all go away. Just don't say a single word. Everything will be fine._ Pyrrha stared intently at her plate for what felt like eons before looking up…

…into lilac eyes that held absolutely no mercy.

_Shit_.

"So, what was that about my baby sister?" The smugness in Yang's voice was palpable in the air, constricting Pyrrha's breath in her throat. "I didn't quite cat-"

An apple smacked right into the blonde's forehead, cutting her off.

"Yaaaang, you're being mean!" Ruby came to Pyrrha's rescue, a brave knight fending off the dragon – albeit with fruit instead of a sword and shield.

"Ow! Fine! Stop throwing pears at me!" Yang relented as the stream of flying fruit did not stop. "I was just teasing her!"

"Apologize!"

"What, wh-ow! I'm sorry Pyrrha!"

"It's fine, I just spaced out a little…" Pyrrha guiltily admitted, while relief flooded her, driving away the panic and growing fear.

"There! Happy?" The stream of projectiles finally stopped.

"Yes!" Ruby puffed out her chest with pride, clearly happy with rescuing the maiden from the ferocious dragon.

Before whatever other insanity could ensue, the bell signaling the next class period rang. _Thank goodness that's over._ Pyrrha let out a deep breath that she hadn't even realized she'd been holding in as she repeated what was quickly becoming a mantra to herself.

_Everything will be fine._

* * *

Emerald eyes darted left and right, trying to track the crimson blur before angling Akoúo at it. She was just in time, too, as a red boot kicked against it. The impact forced Pyrrha backwards, her heels screeching as she skidded.

The red blur came to a halt, rose petals fluttering all around the now still Ruby. Her bottom lip arched upwards into a pout, prompting a small smile to tug at Pyrrha's lips for a brief moment before her friend turned into another blur of rose petals. This time, Milo shifted form into a spear and lashing out, causing Ruby to dart away from it, circling around Pyrrha for an opening to no avail, as metal on metal rang out.

_Ruby might have gotten faster, but her reactions haven't improved as much_, Pyrrha noted as the two traded blows. Crescent Rose was a whirlwind of black and red as it spun around Ruby. Milo parried every swing before Akoúo slammed into the spiked end opposite the gun. With the momentum that Ruby had been building up, this move threw her off balance. Pyrrha swept at her leg… only for her friend to dash away in a torrent of rose petals.

Pyrrha smiled to herself as she trained her eyes on Ruby. _At least I don't have to worry about acting different when we spar_. Any feelings of infatuation were pushed away from the forefront of Pyrrha's mind as she dodged Crescent Rose once more. Muscle memory took over as Pyrrha merely acted and reacted. Block, dodge, stab, shoot, parry, repeat, with a few tweaks from her semblance here or there. Incidentally, Pyrrha was increasingly relying on her semblance as Ruby got the occasional hit in on her – _I take that back, her reactions have improved._

Yet, as all things do, the match came to an end as a low-kick from Pyrrha brought Ruby landing solidly on her face, with Crescent Rose clattering several feet away. Ruby stretched an arm out before Pyrrha pulled her to her feet. "Would you like to try again?"

"Nu-uh." Ruby shook her head as she collected her cherished weapon. "I'm pretty sure I'm just gonna end up on the ground again… that first round was definitely a fluke…"

"No it wasn't!" Pyrrha vehemently shook her head. "You really did manage to make me fall."

"Yeah, but if you were being serious I wouldn't have even won once… You'd just use your magneto powers on Crescent Rose."

"Well, then you'd just whisk it away from ever hitting the ground with your own powers," Pyrrha countered without missing a beat.

"Yeah! Well!" Pyrrha could see the gears turning in Ruby's head as she continued to pout. "…you'd just, uh, move it farther away!"

"And you'd just run after it while I couldn't keep up?"

"I…" Ruby shrugged, her pout disappearing. "Good point."

"Besides, it's not like you're defenseless - at least, if that kick was anything to go by," Pyrrha added with a smile.

"I guess so…" Ruby returned with a smile of her own. "Fine, let's do a rematch, buuuut!" Ruby dramatically pointed at her. "Winner is whoever gets first strike!"

Pyrrha _knew_ it was a trap, especially given Ruby's semblance, yet saying no would be backing down from a challenge. Ergo, Pyrrha took a few paces back before dropping into a combat stance. "Whenever you're ready."

Ruby slowly walked over to her precious Crescent Rose before picking it up. Her actions were slow and deliberate, and when she finally stood up again, Ruby held her weapon limply to the side. She _had_ to be up to something. Yet Pyrrha found herself more curious than concerned. _What does she have up her sleeve?_ She narrowed her emerald eyes on Ruby, trying to guess what Ruby's first move was going to be… and then she blinked.

When her eyes opened, there were only rose petals.

Instinctively, Pyrrha braced Akoúo against her shoulder as she scanned the room for her opponent. _Is she going to come at me from the left? _A quick glance in the direction caught none of the rose petals that followed Ruby around. _Right_? Again, nothing. _Above_? Only empty air was there.

Unfortunately for Pyrrha, that is to say, fortunately for Ruby, the seasoned fighter never thought to check the simplest approach, the one she assumed that she wouldn't need to worry about. Which is why Ruby collided head first into Pyrrha's chest, knocking the two of them over and – most importantly - giving Ruby the win.

"It wasn't a fluke, hehe, I guess you were right!" Ruby pushed herself up, having landed on top of her friend during the tumble. "So, do you want to do another match?"

However, Ruby's words went in one ear and out the other. Surprisingly, it was only _slightly _because Ruby had ended up face first on Pyrrha's chest. Rather, it was due to how Ruby had inadvertently pinned her arms down as she rose up. Seeing Ruby looming over her, being all too close in just about every manner, smelling those scents that she had come to associate with Ruby… it all suddenly enveloped her senses. It was for all these reasons and more that Pyrrha went completely stiff as her face turned a bright rosy red.

"Uh… Pyrrha?" To Pyrrha's dawning horror, her involuntary reactions didn't pass by unnoticed. "Your face is turning red…"

"I-it's nothing Ruby," Pyrrha quickly stammered out after taking a few moments to compose herself. "It's rather hot in here, is all."

"Oh. Okay." Ruby seemingly accepted her excuse at face value before clambering off of her and then offering a hand – mirroring what Pyrrha had done earlier. "So… rematch?"

Thoughts flew through Pyrrha's head a mile a minute as she tried to think of some reason, any reason that she could say no. She had to get a moment to herself to breathe and calm her racing heartbeat – even if she would be leaving with a loss.

Accepting the hand, Pyrrha got to her feet. "As much as I… don't want to end on a losing note, I think Jaune wanted to do some extra practice today… sorry."

"Pfft, it's fine! I'll see you later!" The moment Ruby said that, Pyrrha started to make her way out of the training room as fast as possible without looking like she was running away, saying a quick good bye_. I'm not running away, I just need a minute._ Pyrrha breathed in deeply and let it out.

_Everything will be fine._

* * *

_What is wrong with me?_

The further Pyrrha walked away from the training room, the more agitation started to seep into her thoughts.

_I'm just getting some fresh air for a moment. I just need to calm down._ That was the excuse that she told herself, but even she didn't believe it. _No, I'm running away from the problem… I'm avoiding my best friend. I'm avoiding Ruby._

Her lower lip trembled. She had to forcefully bite down on it as the agitation boiled into frustration. Pyrrha was trying her damnedest to be 'normal', but everything she was doing just felt 'wrong'.

Wrong because she couldn't express how she felt. Wrong because the idea of showing how she felt about her best friend scared her to death. Wrong because every action she made felt like a failure to keep herself in control – to stay 'normal'.

Pyrrha hated how wrong it felt to so much as look at the person she cared so much for, how she feared the one-in-a-million chance that Ruby might realize just how she truly felt about her. Or how a single mistake about what she said could lead to the same. Or the mere fact that she wasn't trusting herself around Ruby…

Her frustration burned angrily as the grimace turned into a snarl. _Why should I have to hide it? I never did with Jaune and he never noticed! This isn't fair! Why should I have to do it with Ruby?_

The anger venting off of her dimmed as she entered her team's quiet dorm room. _Because if Ruby ever finds out and it ruins our friendship, you could never forgive yourself._

Hopelessness' grip solidified on Pyrrha, as she let out a defeated sigh. _Because I'm too scared that it'll damage what we have. _The snarl sagged into a sad frown. _Do I have such little faith in my best friend?_

It was a question that Pyrrha already knew the answer to.

"Why does it need to change?" The rhetorical question was greeted by silence as Pyrrha let out a sigh. "Why can't everything just stay the same…"

"Everything changes eventually," the silence answered back.

The unexpected comment made Pyrrha's heart nearly jump out of her throat as she pivoted towards the source of the sound. She found Ren sitting at his desk across the room, a book in hand.

"I, uh… I'm sorry?"

"In my experience, everything changes at some point, and nothing can stop that." Ren shrugged. "The only thing you can control is how you react to it."

The concept slowly sunk into Pyrrha.

_I can only control how I react to change and not change itself?_

That certainly made sense, given that her attempts to stop the change were failing utterly. This, in turn, left Pyrrha with a question.

She looked back up at the magenta eyes coolly regarding her. "What if what I'm doing isn't working?"

"Then try something else. If you don't, you'll only end up hurting yourself."

* * *

Something clicked.

The gears were churning in Ruby's head while she changed in the locker room, as something about Pyrrha suddenly made a great deal of sense… the reason why her friend seemed so out of it. Why she felt a sense of déjà vu.

_Pyrrha is almost like how I was right after summer break, which means…_ Silver eyes widened as the natural conclusion came from that.

_Does Pyrrha like-like me?!_

It was only a possibility – it could just as easily not be true. Yet, if it was true, it answered so much; why Pyrrha had been saying she really hot a lot whenever her face went red, for example. Or started to ramble at the lunch table… Or would freeze up when they were sparring… Or even when she could have sworn that those emerald eyes were lingering on her… Those were all things Ruby had done, heck, still did around her crush.

Hope for the first time flared up inside of her, only to be tempered; _what if I'm wrong and I'm just imagining things? _What Ruby wanted, no, needed, was a second opinion – someone who she could trust explicitly, someone who would have more experience… someone who had her best interests at heart.

Ruby made a beeline towards the hanging bag that was being pummeled, the person using it noticed her immediately.

"Hey sis, what's up?"

* * *

Editor/BETA: ASouthernRussian  
Editor/BETA: Gorsouul

* * *

AU: I wonder what next chapter will be…

I realized in hindsight that Pyrrha has a somewhat similar response to the realization of the crush as Ruby did... hopefully this was different enough?

Pyrrha's got a bad case of having a crush, eh? :P

I FINALLY FINISHED THE CHAPTER, WOOHOO! I tried to get it for early December, but, well, it wasn't that things weren't working out this time, rather, it was that the scenes of Pyrrha acting dumb around Ruby took a while to figure out, and were written pretty much completely out of order. So yeah. That's a thing.

Real life has also been kicking my butt hard… in some instances. Like lower back problems… oooor my descent into Voltage lesbian visual novel hell… (I REGRET NOTHING!)

…Medusa is kinda like Pyrrha and it was fun, okay?

But on a more serious note, this chapter was less of a complete bitch to write like chapter 23 and 24 and more of just harder due to little things getting in the way. So I'm not completely frustrated to death by it, albeit, I'm sure I could have shown Pyrrha's feelings better and may have done more telling than showing… but if I keep agonizing over it, it'll never get published…

I'd like to take a moment and thank each and everyone of you for the reviews for last chapter (even if I responded to the vast, vast majority last night…)! It's been a long while since I broke thirty reviews for a chapter, and that was the second time I've broken forty for this story… it felt really good… thanks guys and gals :D

It really does mean a lot when I get feedback… makes me feel like I'm not writing in an empty room… also that everyone liked I got Pyrrha to say fuck made my day hehe :P

ANYWHO, the next release of an _Acceptance_ chapter;

So usually I try and make some promise about doing it soon but not this time. The next chapter's concept is… ambition to say the least. It's easily the most technically difficult thing I'll have tried to do yet across any form of writing and there is a significant chance it won't work, and I'll have to go back to the drawing board with it. I'd LIKE to have it done in a month and a half, but that might not realistically happen, so failing that, maybe on the two year anniversary in the middle of March? Maybe? I can only promise it'll come out sometime this year and that's about it…

Finally, to roundout the update, I have three omakes, two short ones and a long one provided by Super Saiyan Cyndaquil as always.

Thank you all for reading and bearing with me, I hope each and every one of you has a wonderful day! :D

* * *

**Omake I:**

"Yeah, but if you were being serious I wouldn't have even won once…" Ruby didn't sound convinced by any stretch of the imagination. "You'd just use your ASS AND TIDDIES powers on Crescent Rose."

* * *

**Omake II**

Before whatever other insanity could ensue, the bell signaling the next class period rang. _FUCK ME IN THE ASS WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT_. Pyrrha let out a deep breath that she hadn't even realized she'd been holding in as she repeated what was quickly becoming a mantra to herself.

* * *

**Omake III – Guest Author: Super Saiyan Cyndaquil:**

"Five minutes, guys!" Coco called, voice carrying with it her usual touch of impatience. Whether that was directed at the boys who were scrambling to make sure everything was perfectly set-up or just at Father Time - who seemed to be moving ever slower the closer the new year came - Velvet had no idea.

Regardless of what it was, she had to suppress a giggle as she aligned her camera. With an audible click the moment was captured and forever preserved on film, one of the last they would have for the year. The camera then made a soft hiss, releasing the picture out of a slot in the front.

"How did it turn out?" Fox asked. He sat next to her on a malt-colored blanket Coco had spread out on the grass. His sightless eyes looked up at her expertly, having no doubt of where she was or what was going on all around him at the moment. Velvet sat back down, tearing the film from the camera and waving it back and forth. She then turned it upright and took several seconds to admire the instant photograph.

Winter in Vale was cold and usually covered in a healthy layer of snow. This year had been mild, all things considered, and while it had been a White Christmas, the following days saw all the snow melted. The grass was still slightly damp, but the thick blanket kept them from feeling any of the soggy earth.

The moon was shining brightly in the backdrop, illuminating the scenery in her picture magnificently. Just before the edge of the cliffs to the Emerald Forest, Jaune, Ren, and Yatsuhashi scrambled around, the three boys in obvious motion as they worked to set the remaining fireworks and ensure they were all linked together.

This had become somewhat of a tradition for the members of Team CFVY to welcome in the new year with an explosive display of colors and lights; courtesy of their mocha-themed leader. Coco never did anything sparingly and yet the extravagant array of unreleased capsules was excessive, even for her.

That was because they had help this year and so she sought to make it their biggest celebration yet. Fox was by no means, uncoordinated as his skills on the battlefield often proved. Even so, they didn't bother him with setup, and it was Velvet's unspoken duty to capture every moment so the two of them usually sat off to the side while Yatsuhashi and Coco set everything.

Now that Velvet had a boyfriend they were able to enlist two more members to their get-together. Jaune had invited his whole team, but it appeared that Pyrrha and Nora were having a special girl's-night with all the members of RWBY for the holiday. So it was only him and the brother-he-never-had, Ren, who had joined them for the annual event.

Vevlet's rabbit ears twitched merrily, corners of her mouth turning up as she focused in on her boyfriend. The photo caught him in a picture-perfect moment; his arms stuffed to the brim with more fireworks than he could carry and tripping over one of the numerous already placed rockets. His mouth and eyes were gaping wide in peril and she could still hear the astonished yelp only he could make as his body bent at a forty-five degree angle with the earth, several red canisters airborne.

Poor Ren was crouched just in front of the flailing blond, magenta eyes and mouth open in a matching expression to his leader, their faces so similar Velvet actually believed they were brothers. What the picture didn't show was he managed to dive out of the way in the last second, catching several of the fireworks Jaune had tossed, although you wouldn't have thought it possible looking at the still-shot.

Yatsuhashi was running behind Jaune, one hand extended out to catch him and save as many of the fireworks as he could. It was one of the rare pictures Velvet had managed to take where Yatsuhashi's eyes were open wide enough to see his pupils and something more than the stoic expression on his features. It wasn't that he never displayed different emotions, it was just that he seemed to have a knack for doing it when she didn't have her camera.

So it must have been a New Year's miracle that she managed to get one. Jaune being… well, Jaune, helped too.

Coco stood off to the far side of the frame, one hand planted on her hip and the other brought up to her bowed head, pushing up the sunglasses she wore - despite the fact that there was no sun.

"It turned out wonderful." Velvet answered Fox's question.

"Mind if I see?" Jaune asked, suddenly appearing next to her, one arm snaking around her waist and his body pressing up against hers. Velvet leaned into his touch, savoring the warmth of it and passing the picture over to him. "Ah...man. You couldn't have got one of me not making a fool of myself?"

"There was no such moment." Ren sat down next to his leader, eyes silently laughing at him. Velvet had never realized he could be so expressive, but in hindsight wasn't shocked about it either. Most thought the same thing about Yatsuhashi too and only those close to him knew better.

"Asshole." Jaune shoved him, trying to suppress a laugh and ruining any indignation he might have had at his teammates cold but true statement. The blond had pretty much been fumbling around the whole time they were up there and truth be told, had probably slowed things down more than helped.

"It's a miracle we got done in time." Coco stood behind them all, eyes on the watch on her wrist, and Yatsuhashi sat down wordlessly next to Fox. Rummaging through the bag that doubled as her weapon, she pulled out a small remote detonator that would begin the light-show. "Ten seconds to go." She waited for several beats that felt to the rest of them like an infinite span of time. "Five."

"Four." The rest of them chimed in.

"Three." Velvet lifted the camera up and turned it around so the lens was facing herself and Jaune.

"Two." She turned to face her boyfriend and didn't have to say anything, his lips locking with hers.

"One." Coco pressed the button to the detonator the same time Velvet hit the one to her camera. The two devices let out overlapping clicks. Fireworks of all colors raced into the sky, letting out shrill whistles the whole way up.

"Happy New Year!" Everyone cried out, including Jaune and Velvet who pulled away to join in with the chorus.

_Boom_

Their voices were promptly drowned out by the deafening explosions that shook them all to their core. The night sky lit up in a multitude of blues, reds, greens, yellows, and white, completely erasing any and all darkness. The low thrum of _oohs _and _ahhhs _could be heard by the collected student body throughout Beacon in brief intervals between bangs.

Turning her eyes away from the show just for a moment, Velvet shook the latest picture and held it up between herself and Jaune. The still drying film reflected the colors of the fireworks. Jaune held up the other picture she took and they held them side-by-side, admiring the two.

The last picture of the year and the first one of the new year.


	27. Chapter 27: Split

**Chapter Twenty Seven: Split**

* * *

_Try something else; if you don't, you'll only end up hurting yourself._

The words echoed in Pyrrha's head as she stared at the city lights twinkling in the darkness. The concept itself wasn't exactly a world-shattering revelation, but it did give her renewed clarity. Especially given that the past handful of weeks had become almost tortuous to her- no, they _were_ tortuous. Trying to act like nothing had changed was just not working.

Which was why she was going to do something rather… bold. Something that she should have done last time instead of just wallowing in silence, doing nothing. She could no longer bear the burden by herself.

The door to the roof creaked open as a familiar blond mess of hair came into view, right on schedule. "Hello, Jaune."

"Hey, Pyrrha. Sorry I'm late, I was, uh… busy." The boy awkwardly adjusted his hoodie, guiltily staring at the floor. A single red eyebrow rose, but Pyrrha quickly noticed a rather _telling _string of dark marks running the length of his neck, which even the hoodie couldn't hide. An amused smile quirked her lips. _Ah. Velvet._ "Anyway, so what's today going to be? More aura training? Sparring?"

"Not quite." Pyrrha tapped her chin for a moment before frowning. _There really is no good way to say this, is there?_ "Do you mind if we talk for a bit?"

Jaune slowed his gait, eyeing Pyrrha cautiously. "Um, sure?"

Pyrrha took a deep breath in before letting it slowly out, calming herself. "I have a crush on someone."

"O-Oh." Blue eyes blinked, the gears behind them not turning for a few moments before starting again. "That's great?" The boy awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. "It's not me, is it?" _If only he had asked before Velvet…_ yet Pyrrha slowly shook her head as Jaune let out a sigh of relief. "What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing." A smile tugged at the corners of Pyrrha's lips. "It's just… it all feels so strange. She's kind and gentle… and always brighten my day. I guess she's the sort of person who makes me want to be a hero, and…"

* * *

"…s-she makes me feel happy. "

"Sooo… what you are telling me is that you got the hots for Pyrrha?"

Ruby's cheeks turned a deeper shade of crimson than they already were as she shyly nodded. _Why does it have to be _this_ hard to talk about it_! There was something about hearing her sister actually say it out loud that made Ruby ever so uncomfortable, as if talking about the purple elephant in the room.

"I see, I see." Yang nodded sagely to Ruby, stroking her non-existent beard. "And…?"

Ruby blinked. "And…?"

The elder girl snorted loudly. "Who doesn't have a crush on Pyrrha? I mean, have you seen her hoot-"

"Yaaaang!" Ruby chucked the corgi-pattern pillow at her sister's face, delivering a satisfying smack with it. "That's not funny!" The younger girl's lips formed into a pout.

"Sorry, Rubes." Yang cocked a cheeky grin before shaking her head. "It's just… kinda obvious that you've been crushing pretty hard on Pyrrha since, like, at least summer break?"

Ruby's stomach sank. "Wait, does everyone know?!" If they did and everyone had just been too polite to say anything, Ruby was pretty sure she was going to die from embarrassment. Just the thought of it made her red cheeks burn. It was only as the urge to hide under her hood flared up that a comforting weight came to rest on her shoulder.

"No, no, I don't think so, Rubes. I haven't seen anyone collecting dirt on you. Yet!" Yang playfully stuck her tongue out to accentuate her point.

"O-Okay." _So only Yang and Nora know. Okay. You can do this, Ruby!_

"Not that it isn't great to be sharing and all that good stuff, and I appreciate being in the know, but…" There was a curiosity twinkling in Yang's eyes, making the unasked question clear.

_Why am I telling her this._

"Um… I wanted some advice…"

"Oh?" Intrigued, Yang shifted around until she was comfortable, ready for Ruby's story-time.

"Well… uh… what do you think…"

* * *

"…I should do about it?"

Jaune dumbly stared at her for a moment before speaking. "And you think I'd know what to do because…?" he deadpanned.

"Well, you're the only one I know that's in a relationship." Pyrrha simply noted as her fingers fidgeted with the hem of her skirt. "So I thoug-"

"Aren't Nora and Ren together?" The blonde scratched his chin. "They've been together longer than we've known each other, so they'd probably be better at that sort of thing…"

In her surprise, Pyrrha couldn't stifle a giggle, hiding her mouth behind the back of her hand. "Jaune, they aren't together."

"Wha-what? Are you sure?" Pyrrha gave a small nod, causing the dumbfounded teen to drop his prized family heirloom from shock. He barely fumbled to catch it before the sword could chatter to the ground. "Man, I always thought that they were!"

"I thought that too, but Nora was adamant about it. I really don't think they are together-together." The redhead gave a tiny shrug and switched her gaze to the shining points of light in the sky. "So that's why I'm asking you."

"Oh. Huh. Anyway, why don't you just ask Ruby out?" Of course, Pyrrha had already considered _that_ option, but given how her first reaction had been to bury her feelings... "That's what I did with Velvet and it's worked pretty well so far…"

With a knot forming in her stomach, Pyrrha shook her head.

"But what if…"

* * *

"…she says no?"

Calloused hands gently clasped around Ruby's, pulling her attention back to Yang. "Ruby, do you really think she'll say no?"

That was the million lien question: _what if I actually was brave enough to confess and she shuts me down?_ If Yang had asked that question a few weeks ago, Ruby would have had said yes in a heart-beat, but now she wasn't so sure…

The way that Pyrrha's face lit up redder than Ruby's cloak, or how she was acting like how Ruby was… or even the fact that Ruby swore she felt those emerald eyes linger on her whenever she wasn't looking- _not felt, I've caught her staring_, Ruby corrected herself, _like at the library_.

Almost imperceptibly, Ruby shook her head.

"So what if she says no?" Yang continued, countering her sister's unspoken anxiety. "It won't be the end of the world if she doesn't want to go out with you, even if she'd have no reason to not go out with you…" That last part came out as almost a growl, making Ruby wonder about Pyrrha's safety if she happened to say no…

"Well, what if she isn't into, um, girls…" That was another what-if. "What if she gets really creeped out or something when she finds out… or it ruins our friendship… maybe it'd be better if I just didn't mention anything!"

Silver eyes met the unflinching, hardening gaze her big sister was giving her. "Do you really think that Pyrrha 'I am the nicest person you will ever meet' Nikos would do that to _you_? To her best friend? Even if she's straight, I don't think she's the kind of person to think less of you for it." The younger teen already knew the answer to that question. "Ruby." The girl in question let out a undignified noise. "Ruby."

"What?"

The bed creaked as Yang plopped down next to her. "Do you really think Pyrrha would let it affect your friendship? You guys are two peas in a pod and she…"

* * *

"…thinks the absolute world of you."

There was a swell of heat in Pyrrha as Jaune went on about how much Ruby valued her, coming from the very center of her chest and outwards in every direction. It was almost euphoric, thinking how the person she cared so deeply about thought so highly of her in return. It was why a bright scarlet colouration had come to Pyrrha's cheeks, but she didn't mind the blushing this time. Nor the growing smile that was tugging at her lips.

_Maybe… maybe Jaune is right?_ _Perhaps it wouldn't be so hard to just ask her out. _Her smile wavered_. No, it'll be hard, but not as bad as I thought it would be? Or… I don't HAVE to ask her out, but at least I shouldn't be so terrified of her finding out._ Her smile deepened. _Perhaps everything truly will be alright._

It took a while for the words to return to Pyrrha's lips. "I think I'm going to…"

* * *

"…ask her out."

The noise Yang made was high enough of a pitch to make Zwei bark in distress, yet low enough that Ruby wish she couldn't hear it all. "Of course you should!"

"You… you really think so?" Ruby hesitantly asked after a moment, still not completely sure of the course of action. "You think Pyrrha will say yes and won't hate me?"

"She won't hate you and of course she'll say yes, Rubes." A reassuring smile tugged at Yang's lips before she flicked Ruby's forehead. "Why wouldn't she, dummy? Heck, I'll be there cheering you on if you want me to."

"Really?!" Yang barely got to nod before Ruby pulled her into a hug, only to be out-bear hugged by the larger teen. "Thank you so, so…"

* * *

"…much Jaune."

"Uh, it's no problem." The blonde teen awkwardly patted Pyrrha's back. "Just kinda surprising."

The two pulled away after a moment from the hug, with Pyrrha's head tilting ever so slightly in confusion. "What's surprising about it? That it's Ruby?"

"No, you guys spend, like, a lot of the time together." Jaune shrugged. "I guess, it's just..." His hands gestured in vague shapes, as if uncertain about what he was actually trying to say.

"Jaune." Pyrrha's voice became a shade gentler, as if reassuring him that it was fine to take his time. "What is it?"

"So you are just going to do nothing?"

Pyrrha's brow furrowed. "What do you mean, 'do nothing'?"

Jaune's frown deepened, still unsure. "I kinda thought you were asking for advice on how to ask Ruby out- I mean you did look a bit, er, out of it, but I thought it was just nerves?" The boy let out a chuckle. "I never thought I'd see you nervous…"

Pyrrha's smile fell as her lips formed an uncertain line. "That was never my intent, Jaune." Crimson hair swayed as she shook her head. "I'll admit, I was a bit nervous and pretty concerned, and maybe I do need to think about this more, but at the present that's not what I intend to do."

"Then why did you want to talk to me about this?" Jaune snapped back with no hesitation, frustration seeping into his tone. "It's not that I don't appreciate this, really, that's not it. I just don't get _why_ you wanted to talk about it then."

Pyrrha was silent, her fingers once more playing with the hem of her skirt, the only real sign of any of something outside of her usual calm. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Um, sure?"

"What does Velvet mean to you?"

Blue eyes blinked in surprise. "Umm... I don't know. That's kind of a loaded question. I mean, I love her, obviously. But I don't know what exactly that means. She's fun to be with. I like the way her ears do all kinds of different things based on her mood. Sometimes I do things just to see what kind of reaction I'll get. Stupid stuff like that. It's what makes being together with her wonderful. I guess... doesn't sound like much of an answer, but it's what I got."

Pyrrha blankly stared at him for a moment. "You're dating her because her ears do different things?" She couldn't keep the amusement out of voice, but at the very least, kept from giggling out loud.

"No. Yes. Look, this is why I said I don't know. There's too many different ways to put it and my answer feels like it's always changing every other day. All I know is I like her, isn't that enough?"

"I suppose it is." Mirth still creased Pyrrha's brow.

"Why do you ask?" Jaune finally blubbered out, as he fought down the embarrassment. "Unless it was just to make me look like an idiot."

"No, it's just…" Pyrrha let out a sigh, her head slumping forwards. "I don't even know if I could describe what Ruby means to me." An almost pained smile crossed her face.

"She's my best friend… I couldn't imagine spending a day without her." Emerald eyes guiltily looked down at the ground - _that doesn't sound creepy at all_. "It's like whenever I'm around her, the world has more colour to it. Whenever I make her laugh, or just make her eyes light up, it feels like I'm on top of the world."

Pyrrha pinched the bridge of her nose, disgusted with how sappy this was starting to sound_, I sound like a lovesick puppy!_ Yet all of it was true, which was perhaps more alarming if she hadn't fallen so hard for Ruby already. "She makes me feel like I'm special… that I matter." A deep red blush returned to her cheeks. "When I'm with her, it feels better than winning any tournament or getting any kind of award… like nothing could damper my happiness when Ruby is around." Pyrrha had the distinct feeling that if she were in Jaune's position, she'd be feeling more than a little disgusted with hearing such a blatant and sappy declaration of love.

"She is the kind of the person that makes me want to become a huntress; I'd give my everything to protect her… to keep her happy and smiling. Anything to keep her happy." An edge was starting to leak into her voice as Pyrrha went on. "I'd do anything to make it so she could achieve her dream, and that is my plan." She meant it, too; _I'll make sure Ruby can become a huntress. That's her dream, after all._

Finally, Pyrrha looked up, her sight still focused on the ground – fully expected to find her partner perhaps more than a tad weirded out by what she was saying about his first friend at Beacon - only to find Jaune wiping his eyes. "J-Jaune?"

"Sorry, um, just something in my eye." Jaune sputtered unconvincingly. "But, uh, that doesn't answer my question."

Pyrrha's head tilted ever so slightly, as she wracked her brain for the aforementioned query. "And that is…?"

"Why don't you ask Ruby out, especially, _ESPECIALLY_ if you feel that way about her?"

"Precisely _because_ of how I feel."

The way Jaune looked at her with uncertainty made Pyrrha feel uneasy. She paced around the rooftop for a while in silence, head deep in thought of what to say next. She leaned back against one of the nearby ventilation apparatuses once she felt that she had her thoughts collected.

"If there was even a one in a million chance for this to go wrong, I'd try to avoid it… and asking her out would have far greater odds than just that, I would think." Just the thought of not having Ruby as a friend anymore made her shudder. "I might… like-like her, but I'm not going to put that to chance, because if it goes wrong, I might lose her."

Pyrrha's eyes found the rooftop again. "Moreover, it could hurt Ruby." Her lips formed a hard line. "It'd be selfish of me if I were to cause something to happen to our friendship and hurt her, just because I have a crush on her. It's not just a one-way street; I'm her best friend as much as she is mine. I don't want to make Ruby lose that."

"I'm more than happy with what I already have, Jaune… it's not like I _need_ to get further with our relationship… I'm not _that_ greedy to ruin it for my sake."

Jaune regarded her pensively for a while. It seemed as though he had something to say but didn't quite know how to say it, as half-words formed and died in his mouth. This hesitation made Pyrrha uneasy; perhaps she _was_ making the wrong choice if her trusted partner was so indecisive. When she thought the awkward silence might kill her, Jaune finally spoke clearly.

"I… I trust you, Pyrrha. I know you know what's best for you - after all, you always seem to know what's best. So if this is the way you want to take things with Ruby, I'll support you. Besides, caution can't hurt, right?"

Something in how that last word hung tenuously in the air did not reassure Pyrrha. She was happy to have Jaune's support - his thoughts really did matter to her - but it did not comfort her when she went off back to the dorm room. It did not comfort her as she showered off the day's grime. It did not comfort her as she lied in bed, staring at the ceiling, unable to rest.

_Am I making the right choice?_

* * *

Editor/BETA: ASouthernRussian  
Editor/BETA: Gorsouul

* * *

AU: Duh-duh-duhhhhhhh!

HUZZAH ACCEPTANCE IS TWO YEARS OLD NOW! :D :D :D :D

Finally got this chapter out! I actually had it mostly ready for the 15th of March, on the two year anniversary of the first chapter but I got forced to make the decision if I wanted a 'good' chapter or a 'rushed' chapter. This might become a rather long ramble, so sorry in advance!

This chapter is unique to me in the sense that the original concept was to have a split dialogue, where I had two rather identical conversations going on in parallel, intercutting in-between them rapidly, much like you see in a visual medium. Honestly, I was so surprised at how well it actually worked out. It supremely expedited the conversations that the two had, and made it so I didn't happen to have two extremely similar ones going on. The flip side of course, was that I had thought it'd take something like twice the length of what it actually did and I didn't want to publish a 1600 word chapter. Several different versions of the last 1300 odd words came and went, and the final result is a bit under 2900 words, which is still under my 3000 minimal limit, but, yknow, had to publish it at some point.

Also interesting is that it creates a convention and then turns it on its head, which I hoped some people picked up on :P Essentially you get the idea that Ruby and Pyrrha are having the same conversation and originally I was going to just have Pyrrha say "I'm going to be Okay" instead of "I'm going to ask her out" and have that flip, but it works better to think of it as Pyrrha having an entirely different conversation than what Ruby was having with Yang: Ruby's conversation is what you think it would be and Pyrrha's conversation requires a second read through to get the full depth of what the hell she is talking about. Especially when taken into context what she says after the intercutting ends.

Wow, I rambled a lot about this. Um. I do have to ask, did it work out well in the end? Was the effort well warranted?

Okay now on to housekeeping things;

I actually got a new job recently, one that pays significantly better than my old job (yay author-sama! :D ) however it requires far more of my time, hence why writing has become more sparse. Actually that's not completely accurate; it's more like the stress of getting the job was the reason the writing became more sparse and the lack of time is why that trend continues.

My tentative goal for chapter 28 is going to be earlyish June. After that I might put Acceptance on hold for a few months until Volume 5 so I can work on a side project (I haven't done anything new that wasn't for a competition in a LONG FREAKING WHILE), and by side project I mean a lengthy one-shot.

I swear I had far more to say than just this… bluh, lack of sleep and excitement at FINALLY GETTING THIS PUBLISHED is making me forgetful… OH RIGHT; I might be also publishing something, which might also be another time drag, though I suppose that'd make me a professional writer of some measure? :P

As always, thank you so much to everyone who reviews; those things (no matter how short they are) are why I keep finding my drive to finish this story when I'm stressing the hell out! :P Seriously, thank you guys and girls :D

Thank you for reading, I hope everyone has a wonderful day! :D

* * *

**Omake – Guest Author: Super Saiyan Cyndaquil:**

"Umm… why are we doing this again?" Jaune asked, shifting his balance from foot to foot, trying to remain light on his feet so he could bolt at a moment's notice.

Standing directly across from him on the battle arena floor was Coco Adel, bag hanging off her shoulder, eyes hidden behind fashionable sunglasses, and a wide terrifying grin. Sitting alone in the stands to watch their battle was his girlfriend, the rabbit faunus waving encouragingly down at him. "You'll be fine Jaune! She doesn't mean to hurt you…" She sent Coco a not-so-confident glance. "...Right?"

"Not at all…" Coco drawled, tone carrying the exact opposite intent of her words. Oh, she meant to hurt him, that was for sure. She meant to hurt him good. "I'm just testing him out. Leader to leader. I swear I'm not picking on him to make sure he's good enough to date you or anything. I would _never_ do something like that." She placed a hand over her heart, as if wounded they would even insuate such a thing.

Liar! Jaune physically bit down on his tongue to keep from shouting just that. He actually bit down hard enough to draw blood, causing him to wince and for his Aura to dip before the match even started.

"Are you both ready?" Yatsuhashi asked, stepping between them and holding his hand in the air.

"Yep."

"No."

If the upperclassman heard him, he didn't show it. "Then you may both begin." He dropped his hand and quickly retreated out of the way. Jaune wasn't sure when it happened, but at some point when the huge Mistrali boy had stepped between them and backed up, Coco's bag had transformed.

Now he was staring down the barrel of a very massive gatling gun, the weapon making a soft humming noise as it whirled to life.

"That would be _so_ cool if it wasn't about to kill me."

The gun roared to life, firing bullets faster than he could count.

And the next noise that left his mouth was a scream several octaves higher than even his girlfriend was capable of making.


End file.
